Afghanistan’s historic match against South Africa in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025
The Afghanistan national cricket team is set to play their first-ever match in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 against the South Africa national cricket team on February 21 at the National Stadium in Karachi. This will be a challenging encounter for the underdogs, who have not played an ODI match in two months, and it will be a tough test for them to adapt to the 50-over format.
The South African team, on the other hand, is a well-balanced side that has been playing in the tri-nation series in Pakistan, where they lost to New Zealand and Pakistan. They will be eager to get back to winning ways before facing the bigger teams in the tournament.
Head-to-Head Record in ODIs
Afghanistan and South Africa have faced each other in five One-Day Internationals, with the Afghans winning two and the Proteas winning three games. All five ODIs have been played in neutral venues.
Key Players
Afghanistan:
- Rashid Khan, the star spinner
- Rashmanullah Gurbaz, the fiery opener
- Gulbadin Naib, the experienced all-rounder
- Fakhar Zaman, the young opener
South Africa:
- Temba Bavuma, the skipper
- Rassie van der Dussen, the opening batsman
- Aiden Markram, the opener
- Kagiso Rabada, the pace bowler
Key Battles
- Afghanistan’s plan is to target Captain Temba Bavuma early and not let him set, so they might try to use Rashid Khan in the early overs to lure him to hit and get caught.
- Afghanistan’s opener Rashmanullah Gurbaz will look to increase the run rate from the start, so ace bowler Kagiso Rabada has to be effective with the new ball to get him early and in a miss-and-hit situation.
- Gulbadin Naib is expected to play in the middle and death overs, and David Miller will try to take him for runs, while Naib needs to stay effective with the economy rate.
Match Timings and Venue
The match is scheduled to take place on February 21 at the National Stadium in Karachi, with the starting time being 2:30 PM IST.
Live Telecast and Online Streaming
In India, JioStar Network holds the official broadcasting rights for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Fans can watch the live telecast of the match on the Star Sports and Sports 18 channels in several regional languages. The digital rights for the Champions Trophy 2025 are also with JioStar Network, with the live streaming of the match available on the JioHotstar app and website.
Team Lineups
Afghanistan:
- Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk)
- Ibrahim Zadran
- Rahmat Shah
- Hashmatullah Shahidi (c)
- Azmatullah Omarzai
- Mohammad Nabi
- Gulbadin Naib
- Rashid Khan
- Noor Ahmad
- Fareed Ahmed
- Fazalhaq Farooqi
South Africa:
- Temba Bavuma (c)
- Tony de Zorzi
- Rassie van der Dussen
- Aiden Markram
- Heinrich Klaasen (wk)
- David Miller
- Marco Jansen
- Wiaan Mulder
- Keshav Maharaj
- Kagiso Rabada
- Tabraiz Shamsi
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