The ICC Champions Trophy continues on Friday when we open up Group B of the competition when we head back to Pakistan for the clash between the dark horses Afghanistan and the underachievers South Africa in Karachi.
Afghanistan were the surprise package at the 50 over World Cup in this part of the world 15 months or so ago and will be looking to make their mark on this tournament as well. South Africa will be desperate to rid themselves of this chokers tag.
Afghanistan
It will be interesting to see how Afghanistan go about their business in this match and indeed the tournament as a whole. They went into the World Cup not as complete unknowns but certainly having not done anything in a major competition before but now they have had a good 50 over World Cup which they then built on to reach the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup where a prominent campaign came to a shuddering halt at the hands of their opponents here.
That might set up the feeling of a bit of revenge for the Asian outfit here. I don’t think they are quite as relentless with the ball in the 50 over game as they are in the 20 over one but they still have bowlers who can be competitive for long enough. The big question is whether they can put up the same volume of runs that they did in the World Cup. Afghanistan have won six of their last eight ODIs which includes a 2-1 win over South Africa in the UAE towards the end of last year so they shouldn’t lack for confidence.
South Africa
The South Africans go into this tournament with the intention that they have had in every previous one, which is to shake the tag of chokers and finally get their hands on silverware. They should take plenty of confidence from their run to the final of the T20 World Cup last year, although even then they coughed up a winning position in that title match but in terms of talent they have plenty of it and had the past not been the past it wouldn’t be a surprise were the Proteas to win this tournament.
They are probably going to need their batting to fire in this tournament if they are going to win it because they are without a couple of senior bowlers which could leave them a little exposed over the course of the campaign. The good thing is that they do have enough power with the bat that if someone uses their head and sets the innings up for the power players to do their thing in the final 20 overs. If that happens then South Africa could easily win this thing.
Special Offer
Open a new Sporting Index account and bet £10 on the series (min odds 1/2) to get £20 in free bets (2x£10 free bets) to use on any sports market! Click the image below to take advantage of this great offer! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Responsibly.
Team News
Ibrahim Zadran is set to return to the Afghanistan side for this match and he will open the batting alongside Rahmanullah Gurbaz which leaves Jonathan Trott to make one decision which is whether to play Noor Ahmad or Nangeyalia Kharote.
South Africa are having to mix and match their bowling unit a little with Anrich Nortje, Ottniel Baartman and George Coetzee all out of the competition so Corbin Bosch is expected to play along with Wiaan Mulder.
Betting
I’ve a feeling that Afghanistan will be competitive in this match but at the same time I wouldn’t be completely surprised if they bombed out because there is a lot more expectation on them in this tournament than there has been probably in any other event they have been a part of. I wouldn’t put anyone off taking Afghanistan at 2/1 but while it looks a good price I’ve already been a believer that I’d rather back a winner than get the attractive price. That leads me to another bet.
The bet I like here is for Aiden Markram to cover his performance line which is only 30.5 here. He was in decent touch in the SA20 which shows that his confidence will be high. The obvious issue with that was the change in conditions but he made an unbeaten 54 in the warm up game here so that doesn’t look to be an issue. Markram is expected to turn his arm over here and he’ll field in key positions and he’ll bat in an important part of the innings too. He has covered this line in three out of four ODI matches against Afghanistan and looks primed to cover this total.
Tips
Back A.Markram’s Performance – Over 30.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
