Rashid’s birthday five-for, Gurbaz’s ton give Afghanistan series win

Afghanistan 311 for 4 (Gurbaz 105, Omarzai 86*, Rahmat 50, Markram 1-20) beat South Africa 134 (Bavuma 38, Rashid 5-19, Kharote 4-26) by 177 runs

Afghanistan completed the most high-profile bilateral series win and their first against a team ranked in the ICC’s top five with a 177-run victory over South Africa in Sharjah. After dominating South Africa with the ball two days ago, Afghanistan repeated the dose with the bat on Friday and posted their tenth total of 300 or more to ask South Africa to complete their sixth-highest successful chase. A collapse of 10 for 61 meant South Africa did not even get close and recorded their fifth-biggest defeat by runs.

Birthday-boy Rashid Khan turned 26 and took his fifth career five-for to top off a day of excellence for Afghanistan in all departments. Their celebrations began with Rahmanullah Gurbaz‘s seventh ODI century, followed by Rahmat Shah‘s 29th ODI half-century and then Azmatullah Omarzai‘s fastest fifty in the format. Omarzai reached his half-century off 32 balls, ended unbeaten on 86 off 50 balls and led Afghanistan’s charge of 93 runs in the last ten overs to post a challenging total. While Rashid headlined their bowling, he shared his success with left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote, who finished with a career-best 4 for 26.

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Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent for South Africa and women’s cricket