South Africa face Afghanistan at the T20 World Cup tomorrow. Read our in-depth preview here…
South Africa made a solid start to the T20 World Cup but captain Aiden Markram knows there are tougher tests to come.
The Proteas avoided some of the close shaves that have panicked other Full Member nations at the tournament so far, cruising past Canada in their opener, winning by 57 runs to get their Group D campaign up and running.
Paceman Lungi Ngidi was the star with four for 31 with the Canadians never seriously threatening to get anywhere near South Africa’s 213 for four from their 20 overs. Markram made 59 and David Millar chipped in with 39 to help their side past 200.
In a group that also features New Zealand and Afghanistan, avoiding an upset against Canada and the UAE is a must for any team wanting to reach the Super Eights and Markram was satisfied with their opening outing.
He said: “Important [to win], we’ve seen at the start, anyone can beat anyone. You don’t take anyone lightly. All three areas we were solid.”
Next up are Afghanistan, again in Ahmedabad, and Markram accepts it is a step up in class.
He added: “Semi-finalists in the last edition, day game as well, so we have to be on it.”
Afghanistan are already in last-chance saloon after losing to New Zealand in Chennai on Sunday. Having posted 182 the Asian side were firmly in the hunt but a sloppy bowling display allowed the Black Caps to reach their target for the loss of five wickets and with few alarms.
Afghanistan’s pace attack of Fazalhaq Farooqi and Ziaur Rahman failed to fire and coach Jonathan Trott admitted execution had been a problem for his side.
The former England batter said: “We thought with the cracks [there] would be a little uneven bounce and we were right with that. I think the selection was correct, we just didn’t bowl well enough. The seamers just didn’t bowl well enough unfortunately. I thought they [New Zealand batters] played well. They put pressure on the seamers.
“Hindsight is always a nice thing or a dangerous thing as well. I didn’t think it was going to spin a huge amount as well. I know Noor [Ahmad] has got experience playing here, but these are new wickets, so it’s not like he would have bowled on them before. There is that, but you always think whenever you lose, you wish you could have done things a little bit differently, don’t you?”
Team News for Afghanistan v South Africa
South Africa are likely to go with the same XI. It’s the same venue and their team had a nice balance to it against Canada.
Afghanistan could bring in left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad, who impressed for Chennai Super Kings during IPL 2025 with Rahman at risk.
Predicted line-ups for Afghanistan v South Africa
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi
South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
How to watch Afghanistan v South Africa
Afghanistan versus South Africa starts at 05.30am UK time tomorrow morning. The T20 World Cup will be shown exclusively live in the UK on Sky Sports. You can stream it on the Sky Go app.
For coverage elsewhere in the world, click HERE for details of your local rights holder.
Prediction for Afghanistan v South Africa
South Africa’s opening performance was exactly what they would have wanted: stress free with room to grow.
They will need to bring their A game against an Afghanistan side that can beat anyone on their day.
But we’re going with the Proteas to edge what could be a high-scoring affair.
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