A brilliant bowling display propelled Afghanistan to their first win over South Africa in international cricket on Wednesday night after they bundled their African opponents out for 106 in the first of three ODIs.

The stars of the match were undoubtedly Fazalhaq Farooqi and 18-year-old sensation Mohammad Ghazanfar who shared seven wickets between them.

Having won the toss, South Africa opted to bat first only to be jolted by Farooqi's early strikes. The left-arm pacer came around the wicket to account for Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram early on.

He added the wicket of Tony de Zorzi before Ghazanfar worked his magic on the middle-order, dismissing Tristan Stubbs and debutant Jason Smith for ducks in the same over.

South Africa, reduced to 29/5, soon crumbled to 36/7 as Ghazanfar snared the wicket of Kyle Verreynne and Andile Phehlukwayo succumbed to a run out.

An eighth-wicket partnership of 39 between Wiaan Mulder and Bjorn Fortuin, however, saw them past the danger and threatened to rebuild the innings.

Fortuin was bowled by Rashid Khan, playing his first ODI since last year's World Cup, but Mulder dragged them past the hundred mark, going on to reach his first ODI fifty.

He fell shortly afterwards to Farooqi, his 52 coming from 84 balls with five fours and a six.

Rashid wrapped up the innings in 33.3 overs when he had Lungi Ngidi leg before to finish with 2-30.

Afghanistan will play the second of three ODI’s against South Africa on Friday. 

Afghanistan’s national team went down 2-1 to Argentina on Wednesday night in their second FIFA Futsal World Cup 2024 match in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Afghanistan’s goal was scored by Hussain Mohammadi and the Player of the Match went to Afghanistan’s Javad Safari.

Argentina’s win meant the Group C team booked their spot in the knockout phase of the tournament.

Next up for Afghanistan is their clash against Ukraine on Saturday, September 21.

Fans can however tune in to watch Thursday and Friday’s matches live on Ariana Television - the official broadcaster of this year’s FIFA Futsal World Cup.

Match Day 5, Wednesday September 18, of the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan will see Afghanistan take on Argentina in their Group C match.

The match will kick off at 7.30pm at the Humo Arena, in Tashkent.

While both teams beat their opponents in their opening matches, history favors Argentina, which is ranked 5th in the world. However, supporters favor Afghanistan, which is ranked 30th. 

For the masses of Afghan fans who have made their way to Tashkent for the match, fireworks and goals are expected as the two teams tussle it out for a win. 

Speaking ahead of the match,  Afghan player Akbar Kazemi said: “I think it will be a very exciting spectacle for the supporters. There will be a lot of goals. 

“We like to play beautiful futsal and so do Argentina. We will give it our all because we want to finish top of our group.”

Other matches scheduled for Wednesday are Angola v Ukraine, Libya v Kazakhstan, and Spain v New Zealand.

Fans who are not able to experience the thrill of the match tonight in person can tune in to Ariana Television to watch the game. 

Ariana Television network is the official broadcaster of this World Cup and is broadcasting matches live each day.