Champions Trophy 2025: Preview of Match 3 between Afghanistan and South Africa
Afghanistan and South Africa will square off in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 for the third time on Friday, February 21 at Karachi’s National Stadium. As they prepare for their tournament debut, both sides have had opposing setups. Afghanistan’s two warm-up matches have so far been difficult, and they have lost badly. On the contrary, South Africa’s only warm-up match ended in a hard-fought three-wicket victory over Pakistan, giving them a significant boost.
An interesting matchup is in store as both teams start their Champions Trophy campaigns, with South Africa looking for a strong start and Afghanistan hoping for a change of pace.
South Africa Chooses to Bat First in the Toss Update
Temba Bavuma chose to bat first after winning the toss. Ryan Rickelton has been signed by South Africa to fill Heinrich Klaasen’s position as wicketkeeper. Afghanistan, on the other hand, has made no significant changes and continues to field the team’s top players.
Ryan Rickelton and Rassie van der Dussen were included; Heinrich Klaasen and Tristan Stubbs were excluded.
Regarding the absence of both players, Tristan Stubbs has been left out of the starting lineup, while Heinrich Klaasen has gone due to an injury.
The captains’ perspective on the toss
Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan Captain):
If we had won the toss, we would have batted first but the toss is not in our hands and we have to play good cricket. (On what it will take to beat South Africa) We played some quality cricket against them in Sharjah and we have quality spinners. Hopefully, we do well and can beat them. I will be more happy if we start well and take some wickets in the powerplay and give some momentum to our bowlers in the middle overs.
Temba Bavuma (South Africa Captain):
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. (Bavuma got in wrong at toss, it is actually Maharaj who is playing, not Shamsi)
South Africa:
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.
Afghanistan:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad.
India
