South Africa secured an easy victory over Afghanistan by 107 runs in a Champions Trophy Group B showdown at National Cricket Stadium Karachi on Friday.
Proteas’ formidable total of 315 proved to be insurmountable for Afghanistan, who were bowled out for just 208 runs. Rahmat Shah stood as a lone warrior, battling valiantly, remaining unbeaten on 90 off 92, while the rest of the batting lineup faltered, unable to mount any significant challenge against the relentless Proteas. Ryan Rickelton was declared player of the match for his 103 (106) and 2 catches.
Kagiso Rabada stood out as the star of the bowling lineup, claiming three wickets for just thirty-six runs. Meanwhile, Lungi Ngidi and Wiaan Mulder teamed up to snag two wickets apiece, showcasing their prowess on the field.
Earlier, South Africa set a formidable target of 316 runs for Afghanistan. This impressive feat was largely thanks to the stellar performance of left-handed opener Ryan Rickelton, who celebrated his maiden ODI century with a well-crafted 103 runs. Supporting him, the captain delivered a smooth and stylish 58, Dussen added an energetic 52 off just 46 balls, while Markram contributed brisk 52 off 36, propelling the team to a challenging position.
Mohammad Nabi was the pick of the bowlers taking two vital wickets of Tony de Zorzi and Bavuma conceding 51 runs.
Proteas Pacers Dominate as Afghanistan Struggles
Afghanistan has lost 4 wickets and is struggling against South Africa’s bowlers. The early fall of wickets has shifted the momentum in South Africa’s favour, and they are now firmly in control.
The South African pace trio of Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, and Lungi Ngidi have bowled outstandingly well, offering the Afghanistan batters no room to score. They have been consistent with back-of-a-length deliveries on or outside off stump, leaving the Afghanistan batters helpless.
Jansen bowled a maiden in the sixth over, beating Sediqullah Atal’s bat three times out of six. Rabada followed with a tight two-run over.
Ibrahim Zadran briefly broke the shackles with a six off Rabada over wide long-on, but Rabada was not impressed. He responded with a 148.3kph missile that destroyed Zadran’s middle stump. Zadran, who had positioned himself on the leg side, could not get anywhere near the ball.
Rabada, clearly irked by the earlier six, taunted Zadran with a “thanks, champ” as he walked off. The commentators noted that Rabada’s delivery to remove Zadran was the second-fastest ball in Champions Trophy history.
South Africa Pile Up 315 for Afghanistan in Champions Trophy Clash
South Africa set a formidable target of 316 runs for Afghanistan in a Group B clash of the Champions Trophy on Friday at the National Cricket Stadium in Karachi.
This impressive feat was largely thanks to the stellar performance of left-handed opener Ryan Rickelton, who celebrated his maiden ODI century with a well-crafted 103 runs.
Supporting him, the captain delivered a smooth and stylish 58, Dussen added an energetic 52 off just 46 balls, while Markram contributed a brisk 52 off 36, propelling the team to a challenging position.
Mohammad Nabi was the pick of the bowlers taking two vital wickets of Tony de Zorzi and Bavuma conceding 51 runs.
South Africa’s stable start
Rickelton is making full use of his excellent recent form as he brings up a solid half-century off 48 balls. His second fifty in ODI cricket and that is a great way to start his Champions Trophy campaign.
Rickelton enters the Champions Trophy in superb form, having scored 336 runs in eight matches at the SA20, with an average of 48 and a strike rate of 178.82. He then followed that up with a powerful 259 in the New Year’s Test against Pakistan. Although the formats differ, having runs on the board is always valuable, and Rickelton has kicked off his Champions Trophy campaign in excellent shape. The next step is for him to turn this into a big score.
Nabi Dismisses Zorzi
Mohammad Nabi dismisses Tony de Zorzi for 11 runs. Temba Bavuma has come to bat.
The bowling from both Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai has been impressive, with tight lines. There is noticeable swing both in the air and off the pitch.
Ryan Rickelton started with a well-timed four to the left of mid-off, but there has not been much else from him. Omarzai made the ball move dramatically away from Rickelton, while Farooqi has been swinging the ball sharply into both left-handed batters, according to Cricinfo.
South Africa has won the toss and elected to bat first against Afghanistan in a Group B first match of ICC Champions Trophy at National Stadium Karachi on Friday.
The two teams that have punched above their weight in recent ICC tournaments and have taken everyone by surprise but South Africa do have a rich cricketing history and even after making a fair few finals and semi-finals, they continue to falter at the final hurdle.
Afghanistan nearly reached the semifinals of the 2023 ODI World Cup and then they did reach the semis of the 2024 T20 World Cup and there’s no saying that they won’t repeat those performances again.
The Proteas generally have had the better of the Afghans in this format but their last bilateral series about half a year ago ended in a 2-1 win for Afghanistan and those were comfortable wins as well. All of this makes for a riveting encounter with no guaranteed winner.
Talking a bit more about the teams, both sides have their strongest Playing XI available which is a big positive but we might see a couple of fringe players come into the side and step up.
Stats and trivia
Afghanistan have won their last four ODI series, including against South Africa in September last year in Sharjah. South Africa (currently fifth) are the highest ranked team Afghanistan have achieved a series win over. However, South Africa did not field a full strength side for that series.
Rashid Khan has taken nine wickets in four ODIs against South Africa, at an average of 14.55. Though seven of those came during the above mentioned series, of the South Africa batters who are in their Champions Trophy squad, Rashid has six wickets at 10.67 at an economy of 3.46 since January 2023.
In ODIs, Heinrich Klaasen has the best strike rate by a South African batter who has scored a minimum of 1,000 runs in the format and the third-best among all batters with that cutoff.
Afghanistan continue to be led by Hashmatullah Shahidi and they will have the experience of Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan to bolster the side. The opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran will be crucial though for them as we have seen in the past when these two perform, Afghanistan’s chances of winning increase considerably. Fazalhaq Farooqi will lead the bowling attack but there is no more Naveen ul Haq as he doesn’t play ODIs anywhere which makes their spin attack the one to look out for if they are to go deep in the competition.
South Africa on the other hand have plenty of options to choose from, especially in the batting lineup with Ryan Rickelton starting to perform consistently. Their biggest strength will certainly be their middle order which features the trio of Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and Tristan Stubbs all of whom can single-handedly take the game away from the opposition. The bowling lineup features the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen along with others but the focus will be on these two to give the Proteas the start with the new ball. Corbin Bosch has also shown great promise in recent times and his pace could be a real weapon and we might see only one of Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi get a spot in the Playing XI.
All in all, it could end up being a battle between the Afghan spinners and that Proteas middle-order but it should be a cracking contest. Who do you reckon will get the win?
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran. Reserves: Darwish Rasooli, Bilal Sami
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Corbin Bosch. Travelling reserve: Kwena Maphaka -ENDS.
