Ryan Rickelton’s century and Kagiso Rabada’s three-wicket haul helped South Africa register a massive 107-run win over Afghanistan in their opening game of the Champions Trophy 2025. Rahmat Shah made 90 runs for Afghanistan, which wasn’t enough.
South Africa picked up a comfortable 107-run win over Afghanistan in their opening game of the Champions Trophy 2025. The Proteas won the toss and elected to bat first and their opener Ryan Rickelton gave the team a scintillating start. Despite losing his partner Tony de Zorzi early, the 28-year-old managed to keep the scoreboard ticking. He smacked 103 runs off 106 deliveries that set the platform for the middle order batters to capitalize.
Batting at three, captain Temba Bavuma had a solid outing, having scored 58 runs. Rassie van der Dussen picked up exactly where Bavuma left and scored 52 runs off 46 balls. The party didn’t stop there for South Africa as Aiden Markram smacked the fastest half-century for the Proteas in Champions Trophy history. He eventually scored 52 runs as South Africa posted 315 runs in the first innings.
In the second innings, their bowlers had a terrific day as Afghanistan didn’t look ready to face the attack. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran made 10 and 17 runs respectively, while Sediq Atal made 16. Batting at four, Rahmat Shah proved to be the one-man army for Afghanistan. He managed to keep the scoreboard in check but there was barely any support from the other end.
Captain Hasmatullah Shahidi scored a duck while Azmatullah Omarzai scored 18. They were reduced to 142/7 after Gulbadin Naib made his way back to the dressing room after scoring 13 runs. Later, Rashid Khan played a good cameo of 18 runs but he too failed to capitalize on the start. Rahmat then took control of the batting and was there till the end, scoring 90 runs. His arduous effort deserves credit but in the end, Afghanistan suffered a massive defeat in their Champions Trophy debut.
Kagiso Rabada was the star among bowlers for South Africa, picking up three wickets, while Wiaan Mulder and Lungi Ngidi picked up two each. Ricketon was adjudged Player of the Match for his terrific batting.