Afghanistan and South Africa start what could be seen as their initial preparations for the 50 over Champions Trophy next year when the two sides meet in the first of three ODI matches in Sharjah on Wednesday.
These two teams will meet in the group stage of that tournament in Pakistan in February so this is a chance for the pair of them to lay a bit of a marker down to each other as we begin to move towards that competition.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan had a wonderful 50 over World Cup just under a year ago to book their place at the Champions Trophy and with that event in conditions which might suit them they will be keen to go there with plenty of momentum behind them. This will be their first ODI series since they hosted Ireland in this part of the world back in March and while this will be a tougher test than that was, they showed at both the 50 over and 20 over World Cups that they are ready for that.
The Afghanistan bowling unit is always likely to keep them competitive in any white ball match but with Rashid Khan getting 10 overs and Fazalhaq Farooqi now one of the better seamers in the game too there is enough firepower for the home side to be confident. The big test will be whether they can put the sort of number of runs on the board which allows them to win matches. The pitches in Pakistan are usually good for batting so now would be a good time to get into a groove with the bat.
South Africa
This will be the first time that South Africa have played in ODI matches this year. That is understandable because the early part of 2024 was all about the T20 World Cup where they made the most of the schedule to make the final but they still can’t get their hands on silverware. Their next chance of doing that will be in the Champions Trophy and that is getting ever closer so you would expect their attention to turn to this format now.
The one thing South Africa are going to struggle with is getting their bowlers out regularly. They are one of the teams who take Test cricket seriously so their best bowlers are probably only ever going to be involved in the white ball tournaments and truly big series hence why Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi are allowed to play in the Caribbean Premier League. South Africa have shown in recent times that they are well stocked with the bat which is no bad thing.
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Team News
Afghanistan have Rashid Khan available for this series but Mujeeb Ur Rahman is still injured so he is going to miss these three matches. Naveen Ul Haq is away at the Caribbean Premier League so Fareed Ahmad might get a stronger role.
South Africa have named a decent squad for this series but they will be without Heinrich Klaasen, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. Tony de Zorzi looks set to fill the void left by Quinton de Kock while the exciting Nqabayomzi Peter could make his ODI debut.
Betting
I think Afghanistan are value to get this series off to a winning start. The key over these three matches will be how well South Africa go with the bat against the Afghanistan spinners and I’m not convinced that is a test they are going to pass successfully. They have some solid batters but they can get bogged down and there is no Heinrich Klaasen to blast them out of trouble and that could play into the hands of Afghanistan if their bowlers can settle in without any pressure on them.
Afghanistan have played plenty of matches in Sharjah so their batters will know exactly how to perform in these conditions. The pitch isn’t too quick here so that will dent the South African bowlers but we should remember that this is largely a second string South Africa bowling attack that is out here, especially in the spin department. That certainly isn’t the case for Afghanistan and so the home side look value to draw first blood to me here.
Tips
Back Afghanistan to beat South Africa for a 3/10 stake at 2.60 with William Hill
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