South African captain Temba Bavuma decided to bat first after winning the toss against Afghanistan at Karachi and said “They will try to post a competitive total on the board”.
Hashmatullah Shahidi-led Afghanistan will lock horns with Temba Bavuma led South Africa to play the third match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on February 21 in National Stadium, Karachi.
Today’s match against South Africa at Karachi will be the maiden ICC Champions Trophy appearance for Afghanistan. It is worth mentioning that, only two of Afghanistan’s 175 ODIs have been in Pakistan. Both were in Lahore, where they were beaten by Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the 2023 Asia Cup.
On the other hand, South Africa has lost three of the four ODIs they have played at this ground. Karachi’s surface won’t be anything like Tarouba’s, so Friday’s game will be a far fairer reflection of the teams’ abilities. Notably, Afghanistan playing their first-ever Champions Trophy match.
After the toss, South African captain Temba Bavuma said “We will have a bat first. Looks a bit different that what we have been experiencing here, not sure how will it react. Will try to post a competitive total on the board. I have a lot of confidence in our bowling attack, today we have gone for a lone spinner in Shamsi and the rest are seamers”.
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad
South Africa (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton(w), Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma(c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
When did Afghanistan and South Africa face off last time in the ICC event?
These teams’ last meeting at an ICC event was at last year’s T20 World Cup. They clashed in the semifinals after Afghanistan had won five of their seven games, beating New Zealand, Bangladesh and Australia along the way.
The South Africans ended Afghan’s dream by bowling them out for 56 in 11.5 overs on a dreadful Tarouba pitch and winning by nine wickets with 67 balls to spare.
