KARACHI: South Africa defeated Afghanistan by 107 runs in the Champions Trophy encounter at the National Stadium.

Afghanistan’s Rahmat Shah scored 90 runs but that were just not enough as his side crumbled in the face of strong pace attacks of the Proteas. Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers for the South Africa as he claimed four wickets. Batting first, Ryan Rickelton’s century guided South Africa to register 315 runs against Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy.

Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram also contributed with bat with their half centuries. In the first half of their batting display, South Africa were in a comfortable position at the end of 25 overs with 136 runs on the board in their match against Afghanistan in Champions Trophy here at the National Stadium . Afghanistan are all set to make their debut in the ICC Champions Trophy hoping to win the match.

The Group B teams have bagged some good success in white-ball cricket in recent years, although neither side has been able to win the title of a major ICC tournament. South Africa went close when they made it through to the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s World Cup in 2023, while Afghanistan reached the same stage last year when qualifying for the final four at the ICC men’s T20 World Cup for the first time.