Inaugural ICC Champions Trophy winners South Africa started the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 tournament with a thumping win against the tournament debutant Afghanistan in the first match of Group B. 

South African captain Temba Bavuma chose to bat first at the National Stadium in Karachi, while Heinrich Klaasen was absent from the team due to precaution after an injury. South Africa scored 315/6 in 50 overs, while Afghanistan were all out for 208 runs, as the Proteas won by 107 runs.

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Ryan Rickelton's first ODI century inspired three more 50s in South African innings

South Africa had a cautious start, and after the first powerplay, they mostly maintained the run rate of five per over. Opener Ryan Rickelton scored his maiden ODI century as the left-handed batter became the first South African wicketkeeper-batter to record a century in the ICC Champions Trophy. Before his freak run-out as bowler Rashid Khan's quick throw to the striker-end finished the opener's innings on 103 off 106 balls with seven fours and one six. 

Meanwhile, captain Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, and Aiden Markram scored crucial 50s to move the total to big challenging. Bavuma scored 58 off 76 balls (five fours), Van der Dussen scored 52 off 46 balls (three fours and two sixes), and Markram scored 52 not out off 36 balls (six fours and one six).

Among the Afghan bowlers, Mohammad Nabi took two wickets (2/51), while Fazalhaq Farooqi (1/59), Azmatullah Omarzai (1/39), and Noor Ahmed (1/65) got one wicket each. 

Only Rahmat Shah was the shining part in chasing

In reply, Afghanistan failed to provide a fight back to the challenging target on the tricky pitch. Apart from Rahmat Shah, who scored a fighting 90 off 92 balls with nine fours and one six and saved the team from a more embarrassing defeat, six other Afghan batters scored double-digit runs but all of them failed to reach the 20-run mark.  

South African bowlers Kagiso Rabada (3/36), Wiaan Mulder (2/36), and Lungi Ngidi (2/56) managed to pick up more than one wicket, while Marco Jansen (1/32) and Keshav Maharaj (1/46) also got one wicket each. For his impressive batting performance, Proteas opener Ryan Rickelton won the Player of the Match award.

South African opener and wicketkeeper-batter Ryan Rickelton scored a strong century during Proteas' first match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, where they are facing tournament debutant Afghanistan at the National Stadium in Karachi.

South African skipper Tamba Bavuma chose to bat first after winning the toss in their tournament opening match, while the in-form Heinrich Klaasen missed out due to injury. Opener Ryan Rickelton provided a solid start, despite his opening partner Tony de Zorzi's (11) early dismissal and skipper Bavuma's cautious start. Rickelton's solid and a little aggressive nature unrested Afghan bowlers. 

Rickelton had a 129-run partnership with the skipper Bavuma for the second wicket, where the captain scored 58 runs before losing his wicket. The 28-year-old left-handed wicketkeeper-batter Rickelton completed his 50 runs in 48 balls and continued his solid batting performance. With the help of seven fours and one six, the left-handed batter completed his maiden ODI hundred, which came in his seventh ODI innings. After scoring 103 off 106 balls, Rickelton was run out. 

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Ryan Rickelton: First South African wicketkeeper-batter recorded a century in the ICC Champions Trophy

While Rickelton became the fifth South African batter to record a century in ICC Champions Trophy history, he was the first wicketkeeper-batter from South Africa to record a century in this tournament. The previous record in this tournament for a Proteas wicketkeeper-batter was 70 by AB de Villiers against India in Cardiff in 2013. Apart from Herschelle Gibbs, who hit three centuries in this tournament, all other four South African batters have recorded one century each in this competition.

South African batters with centuries in the ICC Champions Trophy

South Africa 615 (Rickelton, Bavuma 106, Verreynne 100; Abbas 3-94) and 61 for no loss (Bedingham 47*) defeated Pakistan 194 (Babar 58; Rabada 3-55) and 478 (Masood 145, Babar 81; Rabada 3-115) by ten wickets.

South Africa moved to the WTC final after an easy ten-wicket win against Pakistan, which was their seventh win in a row. The win took about two and a half days, mainly because of good ball throwing, finally getting Pakistan out for 478 in their third round of hitting. Pakistan's leader, Shan Masood, hit 145 runs, helped by Babar Azam's 81, but even with several good hits, they had to bat again after being down by a large amount. South Africa needed just 58 runs to win and easily obtained those in 7.1 rounds.

South Africa complete a comprehensive win in Cape Town to take the series 2-0 👏#WTC25 #SAvPAK 📝: https://t.co/L7gnQUIBxW pic.twitter.com/AP8ME53iOT

— ICC (@ICC) January 6, 2025

However, Pakistan made South Africa wait longer than imagined. When South Africa made Pakistan bat again, being ahead by 421 on Sunday, they thought they would not have to throw many more balls. Instead they threw for 122.1 more rounds. Masood, with 102 overnight, kept hitting well with Babar for a 205 run start.

South Africa felt annoyance that day, particularly with an 88-run partnership. But Keshav Maharaj found a way to break through and South Africa kept taking players out for the rest of the evening. Earlier, Marco Jansen got the night hitter, Khurram Shahzad, out soon and Kagiso Rabada took out Kamran Ghulam. Maharaj threw the ball for almost the entire session, with a break when he changed which side he threw from.

His different speeds and throwing styles, along with a spinning ball, were tough for the hitters to successfully deal with. In theory but not necessarily in fact the ways Maharaj bowled made sense but the wickets came from fast throwing. Let us engage in observing that this outcome, like the next final result, is possibly, but by no means probably, due to Maharaj. Shahzad finished his part but wasn't proficient at staying at the plate for long. A throw from Jansen became higher than he expected, and Shahzad weakly hit the ball to Maharaj who was near third base. Ghulam, not calm, made the men in close look nervous during his time batting. He was actually lucky to still be batting, since he swung hard at a faraway throw from Rabada and the ball flew right through the hands of David Bedingham who was near first base.

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The wicket was always imminent. Kagiso Rabada's growing frustration from his lack of wickets and general indiscipline—having bowled another four no-balls this morning—was evident. Just after overstepping, he bowled a beauty that nipped back off the seam into Kamran Ghulam, cleanly bowled him out off middle and off stumps. It was a fitting way to bring up his 50th Test wicket at Newlands, and the roar that followed highlighted how much it meant to him. Saud Shakeel and Shan Masood made South Africa work hard for every wicket, but the hosts could have had one more before lunch. Kwena Maphaka bowled a lovely delivery that squared up Shakeel and hit his pad, but South Africa chose not to review it. Hawk-Eye later revealed the ball would have hit leg stump.

Maphaka then ended Masood's long vigil at the crease with a delivery that shaped away off the seam and kept low, hitting the batter's front pad. Umpire Nitin Menon thought it was missing off stump, but when South Africa reviewed, Hawk-Eye confirmed it was hitting, leading to a furious response from Masood. His protests continued as he slowly walked off the field and into the dressing room. This marked a strong start for South Africa after lunch. Shakeel was dismissed shortly after the resumption in similar fashion to the first innings: caught in the slips off a drive at Rabada. With Masood gone, there was a looming threat that Pakistan might collapse, as they have done recently.

Six years ago, at the same ground, Pakistan's third innings ended on the third evening, with South Africa needing just 41 runs to secure the series victory. The game concluded on the fourth morning after stumps were called.

Player of the match: Ryan Rickelton

Player of the series: Marco Jansen

This time, however, the South African openers ensured the match didn’t stretch into the next day. David Bedingham provided a quick boost with a scintillating unbeaten knock of 47 off 30 balls. His efforts helped South Africa wrap up the win in just 43 balls, making what had been a long wait in the field culminate in a routine and efficient victory.