Afghanistan will bat first after captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss ahead of their clash with South Africa in Ahmedabad at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

Hashmatullah Shahidi called it right, and elected to bat first. His reasoning centred around the belief that the wicket will probably turn later in the day.

On the other hand, Temba Bavuma, believed that the pitch might skid under the lights.

Afghanistan were unchanged, whereas South Africa brought in Gerald Coetzee and Andile Phelukwayo even as Tabraiz Shamsi and Marco Jansen were rested. 

Afghanistan have no choice but to pick themselves up off the canvas after having their semi-final dreams shattered when New Zealand thumped Sri Lanka to take a firm hold of the critical fourth place at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

Hashmatullah Shahidi’s side could match New Zealand’s five wins at the tournament with a victory over South Africa, but would also need to triumph by 438 runs or more to overtake the Black Caps’ net run rate and snatch a semi-final berth.

Finishing a promising tournament on a high is a more realistic goal for Afghanistan, though South Africa have their own motivations in this encounter as they look to fine-tune for the knockout stages.

South Africa impressed when locking in their own semi-final spot with multiple group stage matches still to play, but fell well short of matching hosts India in a top-of-the table clash where numerous frailties were exposed.

Temba Bavuma’s side will now be out to use this match as an opportunity to bounce back to their best all with an eye on the semi-final showdown with Australia that is already assured.

South Africa Playing XI: 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 Playing XI: 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

--ICC