Temba Bavuma’s South Africa kicked off their Champions Trophy campaign with a clinical win over Afghanistan at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi on Friday. The Proteas’ victory took them to the top of the Champions Trophy Group B points table with 2 points and a positive net run rate of 2.140.
Top highlights of Afghanistan vs South Africa ODI match:
Temba Bavuma won the toss in Karachi and elected to bat first. After the early wicket of Tony de Zorzi, opener Ryan Rickelton put on 119 for the second wicket with captain Temba Bavuma to take the Proteas past 150 around the halfway mark. After that, Rickelton’s 100-run knock continued to fuel the South African innings and he was eventually run out by Rashid Khan.
Wickets continued to fall for South Africa, but half-centuries from Rassie van der Dussen (52 off 46 balls) and Aiden Markram (52 off 36 balls) saw the Proteas pass the 300-run mark with ease, posting a total of 315 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in their 50 overs.
Spinner Mohammad Nabi was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan, taking 2 wickets for the loss of 51 runs in his 10 overs. Meanwhile, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Azmatullah Omarzai and Noor Ahmed were rewarded with 1 wicket apiece. Rashid Khan went wicketless, conceding 59 runs in his 10 overs.
In reply, Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran were dismissed cheaply in the first 10 overs, soon followed by Sediqullah Atal and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi as the Asian side slumped to 50/4 in the 15th over. From then on, it was a matter of recovering rather than winning, and while Rahmat Shah’s 90-run knock was instrumental in saving Afghanistan’s face, there was little support at the other end to keep the momentum going.
