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Afghanistan picked up victory in the first ODI of the series, bowling out South Africa cheaply before chasing their modest target down, piling pressure on the Proteas ahead of this next game.
DATE/TIME: Friday 20th September 2024 – UK – 1:00pm / India – 5:30pm / US EST – 8:00am / US PST – 5:00am
VENUE: Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah, UAE
WEATHER: Very hot conditions once again with bright sunshine and temperatures over 35c.
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Not Televised / India– Not Televised / US – Willow TV
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Not Streamed / India – Not Streamed / US – Willow TV
AFGHANISTAN FORM: IN-FORM HOSTS LOOKING FOR SERIES WIN
Afghanistan took full advantage of the bowler-friendly conditions in Sharjah to bowl out South Africa for just 106 on Wednesday. Such a small total was chased down relatively comfortably in the end despite the dismissal of Rahmanullah Gurbaz with the third ball of their reply. Afghanistan have now triumphed in each of their last three completed ODIs.
LAST FIVE: WWAWL
SOUTH AFRICA FORM: NOW FOUR DEFEATS FROM FIVE FOR PROTEAS IN ODIS
South Africa’s struggles in 50-over cricket continue as they failed to get to grips with the pitch batting first against Afghanistan last time out. Only Wiaan Mulder came out with any respectability having scored 52 runs with the second highest individual innings from a Proteas player being just 16.
LAST FIVE: LLWLL
AFGHANISTAN BETTING ANALYSIS
Afghanistan boast an assortment of impressive names within their bowling ranks and it was Fazalhaq Farooqi who did a chunk of the damage on Wednesday. Four wickets for the loss of just 35 runs in seven overs went a long way to ensuring an Afghanistan victory and the South African top order had no answer to Farooqi as he dismissed the Proteas’ entire top three. Back Farooqi to follow that up with another 2+ wickets here via the ‘Bowler Milestones’ market.
SOUTH AFRICA BETTING ANALYSIS
South Africa will need to match Afghanistan on the bowling front to give themselves the best chance of victory in this second ODI and whilst he only picked up one wicket last time out, Lungi Ngidi did enough to show that he was a significant threat with the ball. His four overs went for just six runs as Afghanistan struggled against them. It would be no surprise to see him add more wickets to his tally on this occasion and backing Ngidi to finish as the tourists’ top bowler this time around warrants consideration.
AFGHANISTAN VS SOUTH AFRICA EXPERT PREDICTION
The expectation is that we will see a much better showing from South Africa on this occasion, particularly on the batting front. However, if conditions are difficult to bat on, then it will favour Afghanistan’s bowlers, who look a stronger unit on paper than their opponents. In Sharjah, it’s the bowlers who should be backed over the batters and on that basis, backing Afghanistan to double their lead may well turn out to be the right move.
AFGHANISTAN VS SOUTH AFRICA TIP: AFGHANISTAN TO WIN