Karachi: 

Riding on Ryan Rickelton's century and Rabada's three-for, South Africa have opened their account in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy as it beat Afghanistan by 107 runs in their campaign opener at Karachi National Stadium here on Friday, February 21.

Ryan Rickelton was the main man for South Africa, extending his purple run of form into the 50-over format with a maiden hundred. Afghanistan lost regular wickets and never looked like pulling off what would have been a record chase. Rahmat Shah was the lone bannerman, but even he fell short of his sixth ODI hundred.

Afghanistan was dealt a massive blow when the opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz (10), probably the only batter at the top who could set up this game for them, was removed by Lungi Ngidi just after conceding a boundary. A top-edge landed into Keshav Maharaj's hands at short fine leg. Coming as a first-change bowler, Kagiso Rabada once again displayed why he is the beast with the new ball, struggling Ibrahim Zadran (16) and eventually knocking his middle stump, reducing Afghans to 38 in 9.4 overs.

Chasing 316 runs, Afghanistan lost wickets at regular intervals. However, Rahmat Shah kept fighting, trying to reduce the gap of defeat to the shortest margin possible considering that Net Run Rate might play a crucial role going forward and was denying the inevitable. However, South African pacers were too good and Afghanistan succumbed to a 107-run loss.

Sediqullah Atal and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi also followed both the openers as they failed to rebuild for Afghanistan, getting dismissed by the time the score hit 50 in 14.4 overs.

Azmatullah Omarzai and Rahmat Shah gave Afghanistan a temporary moment of relief, finding some boundaries. However, late, Rahmat's small partnerships with Mohammed Nabi and Rashid Khan took them past the 200-run mark and were eventually bowled out for 208 in 43.3 overs.

Earlier, the left-hand batter Ryan Rickleton's maiden ODI century (103) stormed the South African side to 315 runs.
Bavuma scored his second consecutive fifty in ODIs before getting out. Rassie Van der Dussen and Aiden Markram also scored quick-fire fifties to help their side cross the 300-run mark. Mohammad Nabi, the fourth oldest player to play in the Champions Trophy, was the pick for the bowler for Afghanistan, having picked up two wickets for 51 runs in his 10 overs.

South Africa will now take on Australia while England will square off against Afghanistan in their next games scheduled to be played on February 25 and 26 respectively.

Afghanistan in ODI run-chases since 2022
Chasing sub-250 targets: Won 9 out of 10
Chasing 250-plus targets: Won 2 out of 12

Defeats by 100-plus runs for AFG in ICC ODI tournaments
By 275 runs vs AUS, Perth (WACA), CWC 2015
By 150 runs vs ENG, Old Trafford, CWC 2019
By 149 runs vs NZ, Chennai, CWC 2023
By 107 runs vs SA, Karachi, CT 2025
By 105 runs vs BAN, Canberra, CWC 2015

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