Ryan Rickelton and the bowlers’ performance bagged South Africa their maiden victory in the Champions Trophy 2025.
Hashmatullah Shahidi-led Afghanistan was scheduled to face Temba Bavuma led South Africa to play the third match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on February 21 in National Stadium, Karachi.
The match against South Africa at Karachi will be the maiden ICC Champions Trophy appearance for Afghanistan.
Speaking of the match, South Africa won the toss and opted to bat first where Ryan Rickelton and Tony de Zorzi opened the attack. The duo made a steady start and added 28 runs in five wickets without losing a wicket.
But Mohammad Nabi came into the attack and broke the partnership by dismissing de Zorzi for 11 runs and registered his maiden Champions Trophy wicket. Following Zorzi’s dismissal, South African captain Bavuma and Ryan Rickelton made a century stand and pushed the team’s score beyond the 150 mark.
While the duo was seen threatening, Nabi dismissed Bavuma and gave the much-needed break for Afghanistan.
But Ryan Rickelton continued his momentum and scored a century but soon lost his wicket in an unexpected runout. Aiden Markram with his unbeaten 52 pushed South Africa to end with a massive score of 315 for six wickets loss at the end of 50 overs.
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On the other hand, Afghanistan made a terrible start in their 300-plus run chase game. Lungi Ngidi drew the first blood by dismissing Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 10 runs in the 4th over. Following his dismissal, Afghan batters struggled to build a partnership and lost their wickets at regular intervals.
Though Afghans lost wickets at one end, Rahmat Shah on the other end made a firm stand and went on to score 90 runs. While Shah was expected to reach the triple-digit mark, Rabada in the 44th over dismissed Rahmat Shah and scattered the dream of scoring a century in Afghanistan’s debut Champions Trophy appearance.
Afghanistan managed to score 208 runs after losing eight wickets in 43.3 overs and lost the game by 107 runs.
