South Africa defeated Afghanistan by 107 runs in the third ODI of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 played at the National Stadium in Karachi.
Winning the toss and batting first, South Africa scored 315 runs for 6 wickets in 50 overs, in response to which the Afghanistan team was all out for 208 runs in 43.3 overs.
South Africa’s brilliant batting innings
The highlight of South Africa’s innings was young batsman Ryan Rickelton, who scored his first ODI century. Rickelton scored 103 runs in 106 balls with the help of 7 fours and a six. However, the team did not have a good start and Tony de Giorgi was dismissed by Mohammad Nabi for just 11 runs. But after this Rickelton shared a strong partnership of 129 runs for the second wicket with captain Temba Bavuma (58 runs, 76 balls).
In the middle order, Rassie van der Dussen scored 52 runs in 46 balls and Aiden Markram scored 52 runs in 36 balls to put the team in a strong position. In the last overs, Wiaan Mulder played a stormy innings of 12 runs in 6 balls, which included a four and a six.
Among the bowlers of Afghanistan, Mohammad Nabi was the most successful, taking 2 wickets for 51 runs in 10 overs. Star spinner Rashid Khan proved to be expensive and had to spend 59 runs without a wicket in 10 overs.
Details of Afghanistan’s faltering innings
Chasing the target of 316 runs, the Afghanistan team got off to a disappointing start. Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz was caught by Keshav Maharaj off Lungi Ngidi for just 10 runs. Ibrahim Zadran (17 runs) and Sediqullah Atal (16 runs) tried to stay at the crease for some time, but both soon returned to the pavilion.
The only ray of hope for the team was Rahmat Shah, who played a brilliant innings of 90 runs in 92 balls with the help of 9 fours and a six. But he did not get any support from the other end. Captain Hasmatullah Shahidi was dismissed without opening the account, while experienced Mohammad Nabi also managed to score only 8 runs. Rashid Khan created some excitement by scoring 18 runs in 13 balls with the help of 3 fours and a six, but by then it was too late.
Among the South African bowlers, Kagiso Rabada took 3 wickets for 36 runs in 8.3 overs. Wiaan Mulder and Lungi Ngidi took 2-2 wickets, while Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj got 1-1 wickets. In this way, the entire Afghanistan team was out after scoring 208 runs in 43.3 overs and South Africa won the match by 107 runs.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 3rd Match, Group B South Africa vs Afghanistan Scorecard
Venue: National Stadium, Karachi
Result: South Africa won by 107 runs
South Africa – 315/6 (50 Overs)
- Ryan Rickelton – 103 (106), 7 fours, 1 six
- Temba Bavuma – 58 (76), 5 fours
- Rassie van der Dussen – 52 (46), 3 fours, 2 sixes
- Aiden Markram – 52* (36), 6 fours, 1 six
Best Bowlers (Afghanistan):
- Mohammad Nabi – 2/51
- Fazalhaq Farooqi – 1/59
- Azmatullah Omarzai – 1/39
Afghanistan – 208/10 (43.3 Overs)
- Rahmat Shah – 90 (92), 9 fours, 1 six
- Azmatullah Omarzai – 18 (27), 3 fours
- Rashid Khan – 18 (13), 3 fours, 1 six
Best Bowlers (South Africa):
- Kagiso Rabada – 3/36
- Lungi Ngidi – 2/56
- Wiaan Mulder – 2/36
South Africa dominated the match with a strong batting performance and disciplined bowling, securing a comfortable victory by 107 runs!
CT 2025 SA vs AFG After Match Statment
Temba Bavuma (South Africa captain):
I think probably a clinical performance from our side. Looking back at the toss, I think we took a great decision to bat first not really knowing how the wicket would play. But we took that as a challenge, put up a probably more than competitive score and were clinical to close it out. Probably close to our best performance. The wicket looked a lot different to the games we’ve had here in Pakistan.
It was for the batters to do the assessment and do what was to be done. A lot of cracks so you assume there will be some variable bounce which at times was. But in terms of assessing what a good score was it was a little tricky. The guys especially at the back end, we pride ourselves in having a strong finish, the guys felt that it was a little bit tough. Our tall guys looked to hit that length hard. We’ll enjoy the win and then take it from there.
Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan captain):
I think in the batting we were not good enough today. If you look at the pitch, it was also helpful in the second innings. I think we did well with the ball but the way we batted in the first 20 overs was not up to the mark. The toss was also important because there were so many cracks. It was not a typical Karachi pitch.
Their bowlers also bowled very disciplined at the start but the pitch was also supporting them. My expectation was to play well and I think we have achieved a lot coming into this tournament. We have the ability to fight everywhere but today we didn’t play the way we wanted. Still we have two important games. Whatever we did wrong here we will learn from it. Rahmat played really well in a tough situation. Whatever we did wrong, we will forget about it, move forward and we still have a chance to play quality cricket in the next two games.
Ryan Rickelton is the Player of the Match, here is what he has to say:
Yeah bit of different one. Was a bit nervous coming into this game as it was my first ICC game. I wanted to set up the game for my team. Yeah we thought it was going to be tacky upfront but it played alright. The bounce was a bit inconsistent. Tried to adopt and score my runs. Aiden played a great knock towards the end. Rassie and Temba also chipped in well. Wasn’t the easiest surfaces I have seen.
Yeah obviously always disappointed to get out. It was unfortunate at the time. We were looking to pull the trigger but the guys who after me and managed to get us to a competitive score. It’s something I have done as a young kid (on opening the batting and then keeping). Wasn’t the best time with the gloves but hopefully I can come back strongly.
