World Cup 2019 Preview: South Africa, Afghanistan Look For Their First Win In The Tournament

South Africa will face Afghanistan in their next league stage fixture in the ongoing World Cup 2019 in Cardiff on Saturday. Faf du Plessis' side have had a horrendous start to their campaign. The Proteas were hammered in the opening game of the tournament by hosts England. South Africa then lost their next two matches against Bangladesh and India and opened their account in the World Cup by sharing points with the West Indies in a washed out game. Their next opponents, Afghanistan, are also sailing in the same boat. Though Afghanistan have impressed the cricketing fraternity with their spirited performances, their batting has let them down in the tournament. Both the teams are in search of their first win of the World Cup.

For South Africa, injuries have affected their team combination. The Proteas lost Dale Steyn due to injury and their young fast-bowler Lungi Ngidi pulled his hamstring just ahead of the game against India.

On the other hand, Afghanistan have also lost their explosive opening batsman Mohammad Shahzad after he suffered a knee injury. Afghanistan have replaced Shahzad with Ikarm Ali Khil.

Afghanistan lost to Australia in their opening game of the World Cup 2019, after which they came back strongly to restrict Sri Lanka to a modest total of 201 which was revised to 187 due to the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method. However, thanks to a drastic batting collapse, Afghanistan were bundled out for 152 and lost the game by 34 runs.

Lungi Ngidi has trained with the team ahead of the contest and he might add the much needed spark into the Proteas camp. While Afghanistan will look up to their star players like Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi to take charge on the field.

Squads:

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), David Miller, JP Duminy, Hashim Amla, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Dwaine Pretorius, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi.

Afghanistan: Gulbadin Naib (capt), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Ikram Ali Khil (wk), Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb-ur Rahman.

The match starts at 6 PM (IST)

Topics mentioned in this article

South Africa Cricket Team Afghanistan World Cup 2019 South Africa vs Afghanistan, Match 21 Cricket