South Africa and Afghanistan’s rivalry is one of the great pillars of cricket history. With so much on the line in this Champions Trophy encounter, you’re in for an electrifying ride!
Noor Ahmed survives two balls before getting an outside edge to Ryan Rickelton at mid-on for another scare from South Africa – who then make a respectable total of 330/7.
In this article, we will discuss the main points or high lights of South Africa National Cricket Team vs Afghanistan National Cricket Team Timeline.
| Category | Afghanistan | South Africa |
|---|
| Top Batter | Azmatullah Omarzai – 10 (16 balls) | Reeza Hendricks – 29* (25 balls) |
| Top Bowler | Fazalhaq Farooqi – 1/12 in 2 overs | Marco Jansen – 3/13 in 4 overs |
| Support Bowler | Naveen-ul-Haq – 0/14 in 2 overs | Tabraiz Shamsi – 3/6 in 2.5 overs |
| All-Round Contribution | Rashid Khan – 2 (7 balls); 0/15 in 2 overs | Marco Jansen – 3/13 in 4 overs |
| Player of the Match | – | Marco Jansen |
South Africa
South Africa’s outstanding performance with both bat and ball led to a comprehensive 59-run victory against Afghanistan in the opening match of Champions Trophy 2025. An innings from Rickelton combined with fifties from van der Dussen and Markram was enough to set up an enormous total for their Proteas who then never looked back, their bowlers dominating Afghanistan throughout.
Kagiso Rabada stood out amongst South Africa’s bowlers as he claimed three wickets with his spinners to put the Afghans under considerable strain and ultimately collapsed to 208 in 43.3 overs, Rahmat Shah scoring an excellent 92-ball 90 being their highest scorer.
Even with their wickets falling they still had an outside chance at reaching 320, however their collapse was complete when captain Shahidi was dismissed for a duck and Gulbdin Naib run out. No other batsman could form any lasting partnerships so ultimately all out for 276 was declared.
England were dealt an early scare during their second innings as Phil Salt and Jamie Smith both fell to Mohammad Nabi within minutes of each other. Joe Root managed to salvage something of an innings but soon after was dismissed by Keshav Maharaj for 44 off 41 balls by taking an amazing catch at midwicket from Temba Bavuma.
Rashid Khan has taken over from Nabi and is already making an impressionful statement with his first delivery, striking hard with De Zorzi who attempted to hit it over midfield but instead hit it straight to a fielder there.
Bavuma appears to be in good form after hitting two boundaries in his opening two overs, with runs pouring quickly off his bat. There’s every chance he could hit a century; this would not only boost his middle order confidence but could give him a much higher chance of qualifying for semi-finals – his batting in big ICC tournaments can sometimes flatter to deceive but it seems more consistent this time around.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan displayed an excellent bowling performance against South Africa who were under immense pressure to perform at their best. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Amin Asghar quickly dismantled South Africa’s top order while Wiaan Mulder scored an admirable half century as their sole positive moment for Proteas.
South Africa’s openers were overly cautious on a surface which contained cracks. This resulted in them getting themselves into holes at times; but after they adjusted they started playing some expansive cricket which will provide much-needed confidence boosters going forward.
KG Rabada returns for his second spell and quickly picks up Omarzai’s wicket by bowling an accurate short delivery near Omarzai’s ribcage area that Omarzai tried to work, only for Rickelton at point to catch it superbly.
South Africa’s middle order has done an admirable job of maintaining the pace here. Bavuma and Rickleton have played sensibly, building partnerships which should contribute significantly to narrowing the final margin at match end.
Returning for the last 10 overs of their innings, South African fast bowlers still find seam movement to exploit on this slightly damp pitch. Furthermore, they should try attacking spinners more aggressively in an effort to better position themselves for run chase.
Aiden Markram recently reached his fifty. Although more aggressive in the Powerplay, he maintained a good pace during his innings – setting himself on course to score a century here with assistance from his top-order partners.
ODI Series
South Africa and Afghanistan will meet for three One-Day Internationals (ODI) in Dubai from 18-22 September, marking the first time these teams have faced each other outside ICC tournaments and both teams gaining valuable ODI experience ahead of the Champions Trophy next year. Unfortunately for South African captain Temba Bavuma due to illness he will miss this series; Aiden Markram will step in as captain instead.
After an uneven start, South Africa gradually increased their scoring as their innings progressed. Unfortunately, their struggle to contain Afghanistan bowlers meant they eventually fell behind; although a late charge from Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib almost gave Afghanistan victory on this difficult wicket surface.
Rashid Khan stood out as the hero for the visitors, taking five wickets and showing his incredible bowling abilities. He expressed his satisfaction with his performance and was proud of having helped lead them to victory. Additionally, this young leg-spinner talked about working closely with his teammates in order to achieve best results.
Proteas had an uneven start to their match against India with two early wickets from Lungi Ngidi and Bjorn Fortuin, but gradually built an innings with Fazalhaq Farooqi and Ryan Rickelton hitting big shots to build up an innings with their bats before Farooq was caught off spinner Mohammad Nabi on 99-3 in 25th over.
Ngidi made another powerful statement in the 28th over, dismissing Rahmat Shah with an excellent catch at mid-on and Ikram Alikhil run out for going too deep down the wicket. Mohammad Nabi then took another three wicket haul with De Zorzi caught at cover point followed by Wiaan Mulder being run out attempting to hit him for another run.
Rashid Khan secured victory for Afghanistan when Noor Ahmad was caught at short mid-wicket off a straight ball from Nabi. Rashid’s spinner continued his excellent bowling performance by not bowling too short where batters could cut him, yet still placing immense pressure on their batsmen by targeting areas they found uncomfortable with their pitches.
Match 1
South Africa will look to start off their campaign in style against Afghanistan, as the Proteas have never lost to them in history. Although Afghanistan are currently performing strongly at home and will pose a tough test.
National Anthems Have Been Played and the Teams Have Arrived on the Pitch Fazalhaq Farooqi and 18-year old sensation Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar proved devastating early, when they took out Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram early. Ghazanfar then continued his outstanding bowling form by picking up Tony de Zorzi and debutant Jason Smith as well. Spinners then dismantled the lower order, leaving them struggling on 36/7. Wiaan Mulder showed some resilience with the bat and made an outstanding fightback – remaining unbeaten on 52 to stave off further collapse and help his side to 107 runs total.
South Africa’s chase started well, with Ryan Rickleton and Bavuma sharing a 71-run stand before Noor Ahmed struck with a delivery that hit Rickleton’s thigh pad and hit his back leg, forcing his wicket for 50 which took nearly an hour for him to complete.
Noor Ahmed took Zadran’s wicket through similar means – bowler pitched ball up to him and attempted to pull it towards midwicket; unfortunately he got an outside edge which went to short fine leg instead.
Rashid Khan now takes charge of the new ball and it will be fascinating to witness his approach with it. With its slightly faster delivery rate, there could be some seam and swing moments on offer here.