South Africa have won the toss and opted to bat first against Afghanistan in their Champions Trophy 2025 match. However, the big news from the Proteas camp is that Heinrich Klaasen has been ruled out of today’s contest due to a left elbow soft tissue injury. The team management has taken this decision as a precautionary measure. Additionally, Tristan Stubbs and Tabraiz Shamsi are also missing from the playing XI.
Temba Bavuma, the South African skipper, expressed uncertainty over how the pitch would behave but backed his side to put up a competitive total on the board. Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi admitted that he would have also preferred to bat first but emphasized the importance of taking early wickets to put pressure on South Africa.
Playing XIs:
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (w), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad.
South Africa: Ryan Rickelton (w), Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.
South Africa will be banking on their formidable pace attack to defend the total, while Afghanistan will look to their quality spin attack to trouble the Proteas in the middle overs.