South Africa thump Afghanistan by 107 runs in Champions Trophy
Cricket
Both teams have strong batting line-ups at their disposal
KARACHI (Web Desk) - South Africa defeated Afghanistan by 107 runs in the Champions Trophy encounter at the National Stadium.
Afghanistan's Rahmat Shah scored 90 runs but that were just not enough as his side crumbled in the face of strong pace attacks of the Proteas.
Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers for the South Africa as he claimed four wickets.
Batting first, Ryan Rickelton's century guided South Africa to register 315 runs against Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy.
Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram also contributed with bat with their half centuries.
In the first half of their batting display, South Africa were in a comfortable position at the end of 25 overs with 136 runs on the board in their match against Afghanistan in Champions Trophy here at the National Stadium .
Earlier, Proteas won the toss and elected to bat in their opening game of the Champions Trophy.
Afghanistan are all set to make their debut in the ICC Champions Trophy hoping to win the match.
The Group B teams have bagged some good success in white-ball cricket in recent years, although neither side has been able to win the title of a major ICC tournament.
South Africa went close when they made it through to the semi-finals of the ICC Men's World Cup in 2023, while Afghanistan reached the same stage last year when qualifying for the final four at the ICC men's T20 World Cup for the first time.
Reaching the semis will be the minimum aim for both sides at this event and a win first up will be crucial if they are to achieve that goal.
Both teams have strong batting line-ups at their disposal, but there are also enough damaging bowlers set to feature that could make it difficult to score.
Squads:
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
