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A view of newly renovated National Bank Stadium, where fans watch the tri-series ODI cricket final match between Pakistan and New Zealand, in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)South Africa will look to shake off its performance in the recently-concluded Tri-Series as they take on Afghanistan in the first match of Group B in Karachi. The Proteas will be bolstered by the returns of their regular first team players who were unavailable for the Tri-Series and will look to continue their recent dominance over Afghanistan in ICC tournaments.
The Proteas have defeated Afghanistan in the 2023 ODI World Cup as well as thrashed them at the T20 World Cup. With the chatters of boycott around them, the Afghanistan team, meanwhile will concentrate on their decent ODI form, having won 8 of their last 10 50-over matches.
The stadium is the same one where Pakistan played against New Zealand and lost on Wednesday in the Champions Trophy opener as well as the recent ODI Tri-Series match where the hosts had chased down 350 to win against South Africa. The pitch is expected to be a belter with spectators getting treated to huge hits. The pacers will find purchase from the surface and as the day progresses, the batters will become more comfortable in the middle. The tweakers will come into play in the latter half of the day and offer plenty of turns.
The morning is expected to be sunny in Karachi with he temperature hovering around 26 degrees according to AccuWeather. As we move towards the start of the match in the afternoon, the temperature will go up to 31 degrees and the weather is expected to be cloudy. The sky will clear around the evening with temperature dipping to 20 degrees.
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran. Reserves: Darwish Rasooli, Bilal Sami
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Corbin Bosch. Travelling reserve: Kwena Maphaka
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