South Africa take on an overachieving Afghanistan side at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday, with qualification to the final four on the line for the Asian team.
The Proteas, on the other hand, sit comfortably in second, guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, irrespective of this result.
Afghanistan come into the game after a three-wicket loss to Australia, who were dragged to the finish line, seven wickets down, by a Glenn Maxwell double century. The Hasmatullah Shahidi-led squad are sitting sixth in the table, having won half of their eight games and have comfortably qualified for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
The top eight teams in the World Cup standings are guaranteed passage to the 2025 tournament.
South Africa come into this game on the back of a humbling defeat at the hands of table toppers India, who decimated the Proteas’ attack for a paltry 83 runs after setting a 327 run target. A stunning collapse from the South African batting saw India keep their unbeaten record intact.
Afghanistan have played the Proteas all of three times, encounters that saw the South Africans come out on top, each time.
The Afghans need to win this game to ensure they still have a chance of getting into the final four of the tournament, which would be an overachievement in comparison to their previous tournament performances.
Squads:
Afghanistan: 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.
South Africa: 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.
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