South Africa captain Temba Bavuma warned his group they will need to be at their best against Afghanistan in their opening video game of the Champions Trophy in Karachi on Friday.It will be the very first meeting in between the nations because Afghanistan beat South Africa 2-1 in a one-day series in Sharjah last September.Bavuma stated Afghanistan would draw confidence from that series entering into their Group B encounter.“& ldquo; They are an extremely competitive team,” & rdquo; stated Bavuma as reported by AFP.
“& ldquo; I believe they & rsquo; ve got a lot of experience within their group.“& ldquo; Guys who have that global pedigree at least from a skill viewpoint and we have to draw out our A-game.”“& rdquo; & ldquo; We bet them mid-to-late in 2015 and they were victorious, so they won’& rsquo; t lack any kind of confidence coming into the video game tomorrow however in regards to preparations we have actually ticked all the boxes,” & rdquo; he added.South Africa will be at complete strength with Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and Rassie van der Dussen all available, having remained the recent tri-series in Pakistan.Despite losing to Pakistan and New Zealand because series, Bavuma felt his group has prepared well.“& ldquo; We understand, you understand, the Champions Trophy is a bit various, it’& rsquo; s almost like every video game is a knockout kind of thing and our state of mind actually is to make sure that we pitch up and play our finest video game of cricket,” & rdquo; stated Bavuma.
& ldquo; Hopefully we & rsquo; re playing five video games and not three video games of cricket in this competition.
I believe most notably, we win the moments that matter.”& rdquo; Australia and England are the other 2 teams in Group B, with Pakistan, India, New Zealand and Bangladesh in Group A.The leading two groups from each group will receive the semi-finals.
South Africa won the inaugural Champions Trophy —-- then called the ICC Knock-Out Trophy —-- in Bangladesh in 1998.
But they have actually because fallen brief in major competitions, typically losing in the knock-out rounds, and earning the tag of “& ldquo; chokers & rdquo;.
They lost in the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup in India in 2023 and were runners-up to India in last year’& rsquo; s T20 World Cup held in the United States and the West Indies.Bavuma dismissed worries the long title drought would weigh on the minds of the players.“& ldquo; There & rsquo; s no negativity from the fact that we sanctuary’& rsquo; t been able to be successful in other ICC occasions or editions,” & rdquo; said Bavuma.
& ldquo; But there is a lot more positivity and confidence in terms of our ability or how far we can go within the competition.”& rdquo; Afghanistan will deal with South Africa in Karachi on Friday.
The match will begin at 1:30 p.m.Cricket fans throughout the nation can watch all Champions Trophy matches survive on Ariana Television.For updates, fixtures and schedules make sure to follow Ariana Television and Ariana News’ & rsquo; digital platforms.
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