By Neil Manthorp.
South Africa captain, Temba Bavuma, won the toss and chose to bat first in their Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan at the National Stadium in Karachi on Friday.
Afghanistan captain, Hashmatullah Shahidi, said he would have also have batted first on a surprisingly well-grassed pitch.
Heinrich Klaasen was omitted from the Proteas XI “as a precaution” because of an injury to his left elbow.
South Africa beat Afghanistan by nine-wickets at the 2019 World Cup and again by five-wickets at the 2023 World Cup but their most recent meetings – in an inaugural bilateral series in Sharjah last September – went the way of Afghanistan who famously prevailed 2-1 with comfortable victories by six-wickets and 177-runs in the opening two matches.
South Africa: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (captain), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad.