South Africa will face Afghanistan in a World Cup warm-up game in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday afternoon. South Africa defeated Australia 3-2 in their most recent ODI series earlier this month, while Afghanistan failed to progress past the first round of the 2023 Asia Cup. The game starts at 2:00 p.m. local time at Greenfield International Stadium.
Ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup, which is scheduled to begin soon, the ten participating teams are scheduled to play two warm-up games each at three different Indian venues from September 29 to October 3. South Africa will face Afghanistan in September at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram to kick off their World Cup preparations. While the outcome of the game will make no difference, both teams will be keen to get some much-needed training under these conditions before the main tournament begins.
South Africa came from 2-0 down in their home ODI series against Australia and many pundits are now backing the country's success in the World Cup. They will be the favorites to beat Afghanistan in this game.
Afghanistan have become a very competitive team in T20I cricket but are yet to produce consistently strong performances in the format. It will be a tough game against South Africa.
Match Preview
South Africa will face Afghanistan in the second warm-up match of the ICC Cricket World Cup at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on September 29. South Africa have won three games in a row in their last five games and are looking good. while Afghanistan still has a lot of work to do having lost all of their last five games. It will be an important game for both teams as they have to get used to the conditions of the World Cup.
South Africa had faced Australia in their last match where Australia won the toss and opted to bowl. When asked to bat, the Africans started slowly and moved cautiously, but as soon as Aiden Markram and David Miller shook hands, the score immediately shot up. With a fantastic finish from Marco Jansen and Andile Phehlukwayo, they put together a strong 315 runs in total. Australia started the chase aggressively and had a good partnership for the third wicket, but apart from Marsh and Marnus no one contributed. As a result, they were bowled out for 193 and lost the match by 122 runs.
Afghanistan had faced Sri Lanka in their last game, with Sri Lanka winning the toss and electing to bat. Sri Lanka started well with a good opening partnership of 63 runs. A few more good partnerships followed. There was a bit of a collapse in the middle but the lower order did a great job and posted a strong 291 runs in total on the board. Afghanistan narrowly lost their opening games but the middle order was fantastic to give them the lead. However, they lost wickets regularly which hurt them in the end as they missed their target by just two runs and were bowled out.
Pitch Report
The track at Greenfield International Stadium will be beneficial for both batters and bowlers. Pacers in the beginning while spinners can cause problems for the batters throughout the innings while once the batters stabilize they can play their shots freely. Teams that win the toss elect to bat, with the average score in the first innings being 264.
Toss Prediction
With numerous stoppages expected due to weather, we expect both captains to choose to bat first if they win the toss ahead of this game.
Weather Report
There may be numerous rain delays in this match as heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast for the entire match in Thiruvananthapuram.
Head to Head
The Proteas and Afghanistan met only once in ODI cricket. That was in 2019 when South Africa won comfortably. They have played against each other twice in T20I cricket. South Africa won this too. This will be the first time in four years that South Africa and Afghanistan have met in international cricket.
Match Prediction
South Africa will want to continue the momentum they built in the second half of their ODI series with Australia and we expect them to be too strong for Afghanistan in this warm-up game. With a batting line-up where different players get up at different times, we will support South Africa on their way to victory.
South Africa to beat Afghanistan
Venue Details
There have just been two ODIs played at the Greenfield International Stadium, the last of which was between India and Sri Lanka earlier this year. India scored 390-5 after batting first and won the match by 317 runs. The team batting first here should aim to score around 280-300 runs in total.
Betting Tips
South Africa should have no problem beating Afghanistan here. Despite the absence of Magala, Nortje and Bavuma, they have the depth that Afghanistan does not have. Importantly, the Proteas are far better at measuring and sustaining 50 overs in cricket than Afghanistan, who grew up playing T20 competitions.
Bet on the Proteas to win this Cricket World Cup warm-up match as 1.48 favorites. Afghanistan is rated as an outsider at 3.50. A bet on Afghanistan to win this game could bring good value.
Probable Playing XI
South Africa
HE van der Dussen, AK Markram (C), DA Miller, RR Hendricks, M Jansen, Q de Kock (wk), H Klaasen, L Ngidi, KA Maharaj, T Shamsi, K Rabada
Heinrich Klaasen – The middle-order batsman had an excellent 2023 with standout performances in the IPL, the Men’s Hundred and for South Africa in white-ball cricket.
Aiden Markram – The 28-year-old top-order right-handed batsman comes into this game with a score of 102 not out and 93 from his last three ODI innings.
Marco Jansen – The tall left-arm bowling all-rounder comes into this match having dismissed Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey in the last game.
Afghanistan Key Players
Ibrahim Zadran – The young batting all-rounder has an excellent ODI record with eight scores of 50+, including four centuries, from just 19 innings in the format.
Mohammad Nabi – The highly experienced all-rounder will provide strong batting at lower levels in this tournament. He is also a consistent wicket-taker in all international formats.
Rashid Khan – Still just 25 years old, the leg-spinner has 336 international wickets, including a two-wicket haul in his last ODI against Sri Lanka earlier this month.
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