The South African cricket team is all set to play their final league game of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 against Afghanistan on Friday, November 10 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. They have already qualified for the semi-finals and will be hoping to enter the knockout round with winning momentum.
South Africa is currently second on the table with twelve points, winning six out of the eight matches. They are certain to take on Australia in Semi-Final 2 of the tournament. Meanwhile, Afghanistan is mathematically alive in the semi-final, however, they have an almost impossible task on hand. They need to win by atleast 438 runs to surpass New Zealand’s NRR. Currently, Afghanistan is sixth on the table with eight points from as many matches.
In this article, we take a look at the key player battles for the South Africa vs Afghanistan match in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Key Player Battles for SA vs AFG
Quinton de Kock vs Rashid Khan
Quinton de Kock has been in tremendous form in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. He is the second-leading run-scorer in the tournament so far. In eight matches, he has slammed 550 runs at an average of 68.75, and a strike rate of 111.33, including four centuries. He will be up against the spin maestro Rashid Khan. The duo has played just one ODI match against each other. De Kock slammed four boundaries off Rashid in the match. It will be interesting to see the battle between the two in the upcoming game.
Aiden Markram vs Naveen-ul-Haq
Aiden Markram has also been in fine form in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. With a century and three fifties, he is one of the top performers for the South African team. He has scored 371 runs at an average of 53. He will be up against Naveen-ul-Haq in the tournament. The Afghanistan pacer has had a decent tournament so far. He has taken eight wickets at an economy rate of 6.36.
Ibrahim Zadran vs Marco Jansen
Afghanistan batter Ibrahim Zadran slammed a century against Australia in their previous match of the World Cup. He became the first Afghanistan batter to score a World Cup century. The right-handed batter will be keen to replicate his performance. However, he has to be wary of Marco Jansen. The South African pacer has taken 17 wickets in 8 matches so far in the tournament and is their leading wicket-taker.
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