South Africa's final round robin match before the ICC Cricket World Cup semi finals takes place in Ahmedabad on Friday when Afghanistan provide the opposition.
South Africa
Prior to last Sunday's clash with India the Proteas were already assured of a semi final place and they tasted defeat for only the second time in 8 matches when they went down by a whopping 243 runs. Batting first at Kolkata India posted 326/5 with 5 of the 6 South African bowlers taking 1 wicket. The chase never got going and the Proteas were bowled out for just 83 with Marco Jansen's 14 the top score.
Their only other defeat came against the Netherlands who won by 38 runs and those games aside it's been very impressive from the Proteas who will take on Australia in the semi finals.
Squads and Team News
This was how the Proteas lined up last time out.
Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
Did not play: Andile Phehlukwayo, Reeza Hendricks, Lizaad Williams, Gerald Coetzee
Afghanistan
Afghanistan have won 4 and lost 4 of their 8 matches and with 8 log points they will be keeping a close eye on the outcome of Friday's clash between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Pakistan are also in the mix for the remaining semi final spot and they take on England on Saturday.
Last time out Afghanistan were involved in an unbelievable match with Australia in Mumbai. Batting first they posted 291/5 with Ibrahim Zadran unbeaten on 129. The Afghan bowlers then took over and they had Australia well and truly on the ropes at 91/7 after 18.3 overs. It looked game over but Glenn Maxwell had other ideas and his jaw dropping double century saw Australia home in 46.5 overs.
Afghanistan's wins came against the Netherlands by 7 wickets, they got the better of Sri Lanka (also 7 wickets), Pakistan (by 8 wickets) and defending champions England (by 69 runs).
Squads and Team News
This was how the Afghanistan lined up last time out.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq
Did not play: Fazalhaq Farooqi, Najibullah Zadran, Abdul Rahman, Riaz Hassan
Head to Head
The only meeting between these teams came in CWC 2019 in Cardiff and after bowling Afghanistan out for just 125 South Africa won it by 9 wickets
The Betting
South Africa are currently trading at around 3/10 to win the game and Afghanistan can be backed at around 27/10
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
Afghanistan have been terrific and by Friday night they will know what they have to do in order to overhaul New Zealand which would leave them sweating on the outcome of Pakistan's final match.
Meanwhile this is an opportunity for the Proteas to correct some of their shortfalls from the India match but I expect Reeza Hendricks to come into the starting line up which makes his price to be top SA run scorer all the more attractive.
Bets: Top SA Run Scorer Reeza Hendricks at 5/1 with Pokerbet
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
Discussion Forum
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