Pitch and weather: Ahmedabad hasn’t had extremely high totals so far in the World Cup – no team has been able to score more than 300. The soil type will be a factor in how the surface plays. The temperature is expected to hover around the 36-degree mark when the match starts and will go down in the evening. There is little to no chance of rain.
South Africa vs Afghanistan Highlights 2023, ICC CWC 2023 42nd Match, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, Friday 10-11-2023.
Shahidi says that the weather and the surface influenced his decision, expects it to perhaps spin a little more later in the game. Same team for Afghanistan. Reflects on the game against Australia, calling it a “tough game” but also understands that they have to move on now, and just think about today.
Bavuma says they have not chased well but today is another opportunity to do better. Adds they have had conversations after coming up against a very good Indian team. Jansen and Shamsi have been rested, with Coetzee and Phehlukwayo coming in. Differs in his opinion on the surface, and hopes it quickens up later under lights and aids spin in the afternoon.
Toss: Afghanistan chose to bat.
South Africa team: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
Afghanistan team: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq
Head to Head In ODI’s: 1
South Africa Won: 1
Afghanistan Won: 0
South Africa ODI Rankings: 3rd
Afghanistan ODI Rankings: 9th
Form guide
(last five completed ODI’s, most recent first)
South Africa LWWWW
Afghanistan LWWWL
Match Timings: 8:30 AM GMT | 2:00 PM Local
Umpires – Chris Brown, Nitin Menon
TV Umpire – Kumar Dharmasena
Match Referee – Jeff Crowe
Reserve Umpire – Chris Gaffaney
Match number – ODI no. 4699
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2023 Fixture
ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Points Table
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2023 Squads
Post Match Presentation
Hashmatullah Shahidi:
(How he looks back at their campaign) As a captain, I am quite happy with our performances. We fought till the last moment in each and every game. We had good matches and had some good learnings for the future too. (On the batting department) Proud of the way our batters performed in this tournament. We were struggling before the World Cup. So, we sat together and talked about our weaknesses. In the end, you saw how our batters did and it is a positive sign for the future. Everyone knows we have good spinners. If we go with the same momentum that we had in the batting department this World Cup, we will do well. We gave a good message to the world. We played big teams and we fought till the last moment, even if we lost. Even the Australia game was in our hand but it was shocking the way Maxwell batted. I was very shocked, but there were lots of learnings too.
Temba Bavuma:
(On his injury) Obviously my leg is sore. Don’t know to what extent but it is going to have to be fine, at least in my eyes. I obviously had that option of coming off but it was our last group stage game, and I wanted to be out there with the guys. Was an opportunity to spend some time in the middle and I did not want to let it go. Wanted to keep marshalling the guys, keep strengthening the relationship with our bowlers. It was a risk but I felt it was the right move (to stay on). Winning is a habit, so, we want to take that momentum through. Today we did a few things different. We batted second today. To get over the line in that manner, that is going to give us a lot of confidence. Fantastic knock by Rassie, he took ownership and the guys batted around him. (On the opposition lower order scoring runs) Not really (a concern). The wicket got better. When Keshav came back for his second spell, it was not gripping and spinning as much. Gerald also came in and took wickets, always a huge plus. We can always pick on the different phases and we can think of things to improve, but we will take the win. (On if they are dreaming of a maiden World Cup triumph) Yeah, definitely. We would want to play here (in Ahmedabad) again, in front of a full capacity crowd, and it will be a different experience playing in front of a hundred thousand fans. Before that, we have Australia. We will enjoy today and from tomorrow, we will start training our minds for that clash.
Rassie van der Dussen, Player of the Match:
We were happy with bowling first, we would have chased anyway. They have a quality bowling attack and we wanted to put ourselves in a tough situation. Maybe one or two things we can tweak, but happy with how the run-chase went. In any chase, there has to be someone who plays an anchor role. The openers set things up nicely. We know what our batting line-up can do. Had some good partnerships in the middle and happy to get across the finish line. Sometimes, when you do one thing so well, and the other part is not so good, people say you are doing it badly. We are probably 50-50 when chasing and we would like to improve that, of course. Going into the semi-final, this is what we wanted to do and it worked out well. (On the different surfaces) Kolkata was a lot drier and lower. Having played there, we know what to expect. Hopefully if we get back here, it will presumably play pretty similar.
