SA vs AFG Match Preview– ICC World Cup 2023, Match 42

The SA vs AFG ICC World Cup 2023 match will be played in Ahmedabad on November 10, Friday. The match is a must-win match for Afghanistan to stay alive in the semi-final race. South Africa, India, and Australia have already qualified for the knockout stage. The fourth spot remains with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and New Zealand needing to fight it out for the last spot. The match starts at 2 pm IST.

South Africa are heading into this game after their loss to India. having dominated most of the teams in the tournament, they were totally outplayed by the Men in Blue. They were bowled out for 83 chasing 327. Having reached the semifd, they will be very aware of their weaknesses as a team.

Afghanistan have been inspirational in the tournament, They have won four matches with winning three matches on the trot. They lost their previous one against Australia but are very capable of upsetting the Proteas. Their batting and bowling have clicked in unison in the matches that they have won and they need another good performance. Against Australia, they were unlucky as they dropped a few easy chances before Glenn Maxwell owned Wankhede.

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The two teams have played just one ODI which was back in the 2019 World Cup. This SA vs AFG World Cup is a much bigger one with semi-final qualification at stake for one of the teams. The other team is also looking to bounce back after a disappointing defeat. Afghanistan have been the giant killer in this World Cup beating England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka so far in the tournament.

SA vs AFG Match Preview– ICC World Cup 2023, Match 42

South Africa

Chasing has not been South Africa’s friend so far in this World Cup. They have lost both their games chasing with the batters performing well below par when they are under pressure to chase. Their loss to the Netherlands was a good indication of their strength as a team.

The average of the batters falls well below as compared to when batting first. South Africa will surely be tested by the Afghanistan spinners if they are asked to chase a score of above 250. It will be interesting to see how they cope up with the pressure.

South Africa Squad

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

They have been the giant killers in the tournament as said earlier. They had just one World Cup win heading into this World Cup and in this edition alone they have won four. Afghanistan defeated big teams like England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. They were unfortunate to end on the losing side against Australia.

Against South Africa, they have another chance to upset a strong side. They should back their batters to give them a score above 250 and then back their bowlers especially the spin trio to pose problems for the South African batters who struggled against the Indian spinners. They have a big chance to create another massive upset given that they bat well in their first innings. A competitive performance can be expected from them in this must-win game.

Afghanistan Squad

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

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