SA vs AFG: Heinrich Klaasen MISSES OUT As South Africa Opt To Bat

South Africa have been dealt a huge blow heading into their first match of the Champions Trophy against Afghanistan, with star batter Heinirch Klaasen missing the contest due to injury. Klaasen has been in stunning form in ODIs, having crossed the 80-run mark in each of his last four innings, and was expected to be the Proteas’ trump card. But he misses out due to a suspected elbow injury.

Along with Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs also missed out for the Proteas. Ryan Rickelton will keep wickets while Tony de Zorzi will serve as the other specialist batter in the starting XI.

While the Proteas are playing Wiaan Mulder as the second all-rounder to complement Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj is the lone spinner in the side. 

As far as Afghanistan are concerned, it will be an ICC event debut for young Sediqullah Atal. There are no other major changes in the line-up of Afghanistan, who have gone in with two specialist spinners in Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad. 

Teams

South Africa XI: Ryan Rickelton(w), Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma(c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi

Afghanistan XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad

What the captains said

Temba Bavuma: We will have a bat first. Looks a bit different from what we have been experiencing here, not sure how it will react. Will try to post a competitive total on the board. I have a lot of confidence in our bowling attack, today we have gone for a lone spinner and the rest are seamers.

Hashmatullah Shahidi: If we had won the toss, we would have batted first but the toss is not in our hands and we have to play good cricket. We played some quality cricket against them [South Africa] in Sharjah and we have quality spinners. Hopefully, we do well and can beat them.

Pitch Report

There are plenty of cracks on the surface, and the experts believe that the cracks will aid the South African seamers. Both captains and the experts also reckon that this is a ‘bat first’ wicket.