Sport

Bavuma wary of Afghanistan challenge in Champions Trophy

Bavuma said Afghanistan would draw confidence from that series going into their Group B encounter.

Published

1 month ago

February 21, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma warned his team they will need to be at their best against Afghanistan in their opening game of the Champions Trophy in Karachi on Friday.

It will be the first meeting between the countries since Afghanistan beat South Africa 2-1 in a one-day series in Sharjah last September.

Bavuma said Afghanistan would draw confidence from that series going into their Group B encounter.

“They are a highly competitive team,” said Bavuma as reported by AFP. “I think they’ve got a lot of experience within their team.

“Guys who have that international pedigree at least from a skill point of view and we have to bring out our A-game.”

“We played against them mid-to-late last year and they were victorious, so they won’t be short of any type of confidence coming into the game tomorrow but in terms of preparations we have ticked all the boxes,” he added.

South Africa will be at full strength with Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and Rassie van der Dussen all available, having sat out the recent tri-series in Pakistan.

Despite losing to Pakistan and New Zealand in that series, Bavuma felt his team has prepared well.

“We understand, you know, the Champions Trophy is a little bit different, it’s almost like every game is a knockout type of thing and our mindset really is to make sure that we pitch up and play our best game of cricket,” said Bavuma.

“Hopefully we’re playing five games and not three games of cricket in this tournament. I think most importantly, we win the moments that matter.”

Australia and England are the other two teams in Group B, with Pakistan, India, New Zealand and Bangladesh in Group A.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

South Africa won the inaugural Champions Trophy — then named the ICC Knock-Out Trophy — in Bangladesh in 1998.

But they have since fallen short in major tournaments, often losing in the knock-out rounds, and earning the tag of “chokers”.

They lost in the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup in India in 2023 and were runners-up to India in last year’s T20 World Cup held in the United States and the West Indies.

Bavuma dismissed fears the long title drought would weigh on the minds of the players.

“There’s no negativity from the fact that we haven’t been able to be successful in other ICC events or editions,” said Bavuma.

“But there is a lot more positivity and confidence in terms of our ability or how far we can go within the tournament.”

Afghanistan will face South Africa in Karachi on Friday. The match will begin at 1:30 p.m.

Cricket fans across the country can watch all Champions Trophy matches live on Ariana Television.

For updates, fixtures and schedules be sure to follow Ariana Television and Ariana News’ digital platforms.

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IPL 2025: Gujarat Titans beat Mumbai Indians by 36 runs

In today’s fixtures, Delhi Capitals will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam at 3:30 PM, while Rajasthan Royals will take on Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati at 7:30 PM.

Published

1 day ago

March 30, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Gujarat Titans have beaten Mumbai Indians by 36 runs at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. Chasing 197 runs Mumbai could only manage to get to 160/6. Prasidh Krishna was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets for the Titans.

Earlier Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bowl first. Sai Sudharsan chipped in with 41-ball 63 which helped Titans to put on a decent total on what seemed like a tricky surface.

In reply, Mumbai Indians could only score 160 for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs, with Suryakumar Yadav top-scoring with 48 off 28 balls. For Gujarat, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna claimed two wickets each.

With the result, Titans have registered their first win of the tournament while Mumbai after two games remain winless.

In today’s fixtures, Delhi Capitals will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam at 3:30 PM, while Rajasthan Royals will take on Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati at 7:30 PM.

Ariana Television will again broadcast this match live and exclusively across Afghanistan. Fans can tune in from 2:30 PM Kabul time.

Sport

De Kock fireworks see Kolkata thrash Rajasthan in IPL

Published

4 days ago

March 27, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Spinners Moeen Ali and Varun Chakravarthy combined to help restrict Rajasthan to 151-9 after KKR elected to field first in Guwahati.

De Kock bossed the chase with his 61-ball innings laced with eight fours and six sixes as Kolkata achieved their target with 15 balls to spare.

De Kock, who has retired from Tests and one-day international cricket for South Africa and whose T20 international future remains uncertain, showed no signs of rustiness.

“To be fair, haven’t felt any challenges yet,” De Kock said.

“Have had three months off which felt nice. Had about a 10-day build-up to this season. Only my second game here, just taking it as I see it.”

Kolkata signed De Kock in November’s auction after he was released by Lucknow Super Giants.
He handed his team a quick start, hitting two fours but then lost opening partner Moeen, run out for five.

Skipper Ajinkya Rahane fell after a brisk 18 but De Kock stood firm and along with impact substitute Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who made 22, steered the team home in an unbeaten stand of 83.

De Kock finished with a six off Jofra Archer as Kolkata bounced back from their opening loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Rajasthan suffered their second straight loss.

Earlier, Kolkata fast bowler Vaibhav Arora dismissed Sanju Samson, bowled for 13, and Chakravarthy and Moeen soon took two wickets each.
Wicketkeeper Samson is Rajasthan’s regular captain but has been forced to play only as a batter in the first three matches due to an injury.

Chakravarthy, who starred in India’s recent Champions Trophy triumph, got stand-in-skipper Riyan Parag out caught behind for 25.

Former England all-rounder Moeen, in for the unwell Sunil Narine, stifled the opposition with his off-spin and was rewarded with the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal for 29.

The 37-year-old and Chakravarthy both struck again as Rajasthan slipped to 82-5 in 11 overs.

Wickets kept tumbling for Rajasthan and despite wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel’s 33 and 16 from Archer, they settled for a below-par total.
“I think 170 was a reasonable score but we fell short by 20 runs,” said Parag. “The plan was to get Quinny out early but he didn’t so we shifted to containing them in the middle overs.”

Arora and fellow quick Harshit Rana also took two wickets each.

Kolkata, under Shreyas Iyer who is now Punjab Kings captain after a $3.17 million move in the auction, won their third IPL title last year.

The seventh match of the day will see Sunrisers Hyderabad play Lucknow Super Giants. The live broadcast of this match, on Ariana Television, will start at 6:15pm.