ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023: Semi-Finalist South Africa take on Afghanistan in their last league match
When Australia was struggling at 91/7 against Afghanistan, it was almost inevitable that the world would see perhaps one of the biggest upsets in the World Cups. The five-time world champions needed another 201 runs and had just three wickets in hand. The odds were certainly in Afghanistan’s favour. However, Glenn Maxwell, popularly known as “The Big Show” pulled off a miraculous feat as he smashed an unbeaten double century to power his team to a phenomenal win and left Afghanistan’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-final hanging by a thread.
Swallowing that bitter pill of defeat against Australia, Afghanistan will back themselves to take on South Africa in their last league match on November 10 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Head-to-Head
South Africa and Afghanistan have played just the one ODI against each other. It was played during the 2019 World Cup in England. South Africa handed a crushing nine-wicket defeat to Afghanistan in that match.
| Particulars | South Africa | Afghanistan |
| ICC ODI Rankings | 3 | 9 |
| Wins in ODIs | 1 | 0 |
| At World Cups | 1 | 0 |
Performance in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 so far..
South Africa and Afghanistan will play their ninth and last league match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Of the eight matches, South Africa have won six, whereas Afghanistan have won four. South Africa have already qualified for the semi-final, while Afghanistan can strengthen their chances of making it to the knock-outs if they beat South Africa.
| Match number | South Africa | Afghanistan |
| 1 | Beat Sri Lanka by 102 runs | Lost to Bangladesh by 6 wickets |
| 2 | Beat Australia by 134 runs | Lost to India by 8 wickets |
| 3 | Lost to Netherlands by 38 runs (43 overs match) | Beat England by 69 runs |
| 4 | Beat England by 229 runs | Lost to New Zealand by 149 runs |
| 5 | Beat Bangladesh by 149 runs | Beat Pakistan by 8 wickets |
| 6 | Beat Pakistan by 1 wicket | Beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets |
| 7 | Beat New Zealand by 190 runs | Beat Netherlands by 7 wickets |
| 8 | Lost to India by 243 runs | Lost to Australia by 3 wickets |
Squads
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq.
Injury updates
There are no injury concerns for South Africa and Afghanistan, ahead of their match.
Playing conditions
Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the encounter between South Africa and Afghanistan. It will be a day night match. The venue will host its fourth match of this tournament. The teams batting second have won two of the first three matches played. The highest total scored here is 286 and the lowest is 191. Depending on the type of pitch used (black soil or red soil) conditions will differ. Red soil pitches assist spinners as the ball comes on to the bat slow with low bounce. Black soil pitches are favourable for batting as the bounce is even.
Weather
The weather is expected to see hazy sun. The maximum temperature attained during the day will be 36 degrees Celsius. There will be no cloud cover and just 1% chance of rain. The wind will blow from the north-east.
Players to watch out for
Quinton de Kock: With four centuries in eight matches, this South African wicket-keeper- batter has been in red hot form. He has muscled a total of 550 runs at a breathtaking average of 69 and strike rate of 111.
Marco Jansen: Standing tall at 6.75ft, this South African left arm speedster has been the most successful bowler for his team with 17 wickets in eight matches. He has also been productive with the bat piling up 157 runs at an average of 39 and strike rate of 111.
Ibrahim Zadran: The right-handed opening batter of Afghanistan created history in the last match as he became the first player from the country to score a century in World Cups. In his eight matches, he has scored 361 runs at an average of 52 and strike rate of 78.
Rashid Khan: The dashing all-rounder is the heartbeat of Afghanistan team. The wily leg spinner has claimed nine wickets from his eight outings and packed a punch with 91 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 112.
Milestones alert
- Kagiso Rabada will play his 100th ODI
- Heinrich Klaasen and Tabraiz Shamsi will play their 50th ODI
- Temba Bavuma needs 11 runs to complete 1500 ODI runs
- Keshav Maharaj needs 1 wicket to complete 50 ODI wickets
- Quinton de Kock needs 1 century to go past AB De Villers (4), who has the most centuries for South Africa in World Cups
Match details
Date: November 10, 2023
Time: 2:00 PM IST
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Live streaming: Star Sports, Hotstar
All the statistics are sourced from ESPN Cricinfo