The first match of Group-B at the Champions Trophy 2025 was played between South Africa and Afghanistan at the National Stadium in Karachi on 21 February. In this match, the African team dominated, batting first and scoring 315 runs at the loss of 6 wickets in 50 overs. Their bowlers then restricted Afghanistan to 208 runs, securing a 107-run win. Notably, South Africa’s team achieved a feat that only the Indian team had accomplished earlier in the history of the Champions Trophy.
African Team’s Batting Prowess
In the match against Afghanistan, South Africa team captain Temba Bavuma decided to bat first after winning the toss, a decision that paid off. Ryan Retion scored 103 runs, while captain Bavuma scored 58, Reeja Van Dar Dusen 52, and Edan Makram 50 runs. This meant that four batsmen from the African team scored 50 or more runs in the innings. Previously, only the Indian team had achieved this feat in the Champions Trophy, against Pakistan in 2017 at Birmingham.
In that match, four Indian players scored 50 or more runs: Rohit Sharma with 91, Shikhar Dhawan with 68, Virat Kohli with 81, and Yuvraj Singh with 53 runs. Now, the South African team has become the second team to accomplish this impressive feat.
Afghanistan’s Struggles
The Afghanistan team has shown great performance in limited overs format in world cricket, particularly in T20 formats. However, they have not been able to replicate this success in ICC ODI tournaments with consistency. The 107-run defeat to South Africa is the fourth biggest defeat for the Afghanistan team by margin of runs in an ICC ODI tournament. This loss makes it challenging for them to reach the semi-finals, given their net run rate of -2.140. Afghanistan’s next match is against England on 26 February.