Karachi, Feb 22: Ryan Rickelton produced a superb show with the bat, while Kagiso Rabada made three inroads as South Africa beat Afghanistan by 107 runs in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 encounter in Karachi on Friday.Rickelton completed his maiden ODI ton and helped South Africa pile a stiff 315/6 after they won the toss and opted to bat. Rabada’s clinical display then helped the Proteas bundle Afghanistan for 208 in 43.3 overs.
Leading the show for Proteas with the bat, Rickelton found great support from Temba Bavuma as the duo added 129 runs for the second wicket. Bavuma was dismissed for 58(76), following which Rassie van der Dussen joined the proceedings and hammered 52(46). Aiden Markram also contributed with an equally impactful half-century as the batter returned unbeaten on 52(36).
Afghanistan in response got off to a slow start and none of the batters barring Rahmat Shah could resist the Proteas attack. The team lost both openers – Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran – inside the first powerplay. South Africa then made two more inroads in quick succession and reduced Afghanistan to 50/4 in the 15th over.
Then there was a brief 39-run partnership for the fifth wicket before Rabada injected another blow. Marco Jansen then joined the party and pushed Afghanistan further behind, following which Ngidi picked his second wicket. Rahmat, who was the only positive from Afghanistan’s line-up, was the final batter to be dismissed on 90(92).
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s spin wizard Rashid Khan failed to grab a single wicket in one of the rarest occasion and conceded 59 runs in his full quota of overs.
Ryan Rickelton, Player of the Match, said, Was nervous coming into today, first ICC event. Was a bit edgy but happy to contribute to the team in a winning performance. We thought the surface would be a bit tacky, but it played alright. The bounce was a bit inconsistent but we worked our way through it. I thought we played nicely with the batting we had in the tank to get a competitive total on the board. Disappointing to get out always, especially in that manner. Was looking to pull the trigger after that, but the guys who came in after did that and we managed to pick up a few extra boundaries. (On opening the batting) It is something I have done since I was a young kid, wasn’t too difficult. Wasn’t the best night with the gloves, but will learn from these mistakes.