On Saturday, March 1, England will play South Africa in Match 11 of the Champions Trophy 2025 at the National Stadium in Karachi.
Following consecutive losses to Afghanistan and Australia, respectively, England is out from the battle for the semi-finals. For pride, they play this game. Notably, this is Jos Buttler’s final game as captain of England because to the upheaval brought on by their dismal recent limited-overs cricket performances.
More than a week ago, South Africa defeated Afghanistan by a commanding 107-run margin in their opening encounter. Without a ball being bowled, their subsequent match against Australia was abandoned. The group has a chance to go to the semifinals. They have a far higher net run rate than Afghanistan, who are also on three points, thus even if they lose this game, they can still qualify.
Toss Update
England won the toss and elected to bat first.
Mark Wood, Temba Bavuma headline absentees for this match
For England, Mark Wood misses out due to a knee injury sustained in the previous match. Saqib Mahmood replaces the pacer.
For South Africa, their captain Temba Bavuma and opening batter Tony de Zorzi miss out due to illness and are at the team hotel. Tristan Stubbs and Heinrich Klaasen come back into the XI.
What did the captains say at the toss?
Jos Buttler (England):
We are gonna bat first today, looks like a decent wicket, a few cracks there. I felt like it was time, so I didn’t want to take more time to take that decision (on stepping down from England white-ball captaincy). It was an easy decision and I will do it for one last time, hopefully we can do well. A bit of sadness as well, it’s an honour to captain your country, it’s something you dream about and I have had some good moments along the way. (On the replacement for the injured Mark Wood) Saqib Mahmood comes in, he is a good new-ball bowler and it’s exciting to have him.
Aiden Markram (South Africa)
We are actually happy to chase, haven’t chased in this comp yet, we are looking forward to have a good game against a strong English side. Two guys have had illness around the camp, Tony and Temba miss out. Unfortunate that they miss out but hopefully they will recover. Our last game got rained out, we had a few training sessions, we are ready for this game.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 ENG vs SA Playing XIs:
England: Philip Salt, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith(w), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(c), Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood
South Africa: Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
India
