South Africa are getting ready to face Afghanistan in match no. 42 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. The Proteas have already booked their berth in the semifinal stage and are currently in 2nd place on the Points Table but suffered a massive 243-run loss at the hands of Team India in Kolkata in the last match, bowled out for just 83.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, were heartbreakingly close to their maiden appearance in the semifinal but get Australia off the hook after reducing them to 91 for 7 in their last game in Mumbai. “I don’t think any international game is kind of a weird game. I think for us, it’s just continuing what we've really done in this World Cup and just nailing down on areas that we want to improve on from the previous game and yeah, I think it’s a great opportunity to showcase what we can do and get some momentum into that semi,” South African batter David Miller said in the pre-match press conference in Ahmedabad.
South Africa and Afghanistan have faced off only once in ODI cricket with the Proteas winning that match in the 2019 World Cup. “It’s been good to watch the Afghanistan group going the way that they have with the spinners that they’ve got, the batters up front, they’ve done really well. Their opening stands have been really good. And then contributions throughout the innings is from the other batters,” Miller said about the Afghanistan team.
“They’re a really strong team, and hence, they have a chance to make the semifinals. So, it’s good to see. I mean, that’s the joys of World Cup. You see different teams doing well, people that don’t necessarily rate a certain team exceeding in a certain phase of the World Cup. So, it’s great to see good for cricket,” he added.
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Date & Time: November 10, 2pm IST onwards
Live Streaming and TV details: Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar website and app
Wicketkeepers: Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen
Batters: Rassie van der Dussen, Ibrahim Zadran
All-rounders: Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Azmatullah Omarzai
Bowlers: Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Rashid Khan
Captain: Quinton de Kock
Vice-captain: Keshav Maharaj
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi/Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi/Gerald Coetzee
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman/Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad
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