South Africa, Afghanistan to battle it out for their first win

Down and out, the two bottom-placed teams know that this will be their best chance to post their first win in the ongoing 50-over showpiece event. This is perhaps the first time that South Africa, from the very beginning, was never in contention to make it to the semi-finals but remaining winless after four matches is something unexpected.

After three straight losses against England, Bangladesh and India, its fourth match against the West Indies was abandoned due to rain. Afghanistan has faced a similar fate, losing all three of its matches till now. It has gone down to defending champion Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

However, the players of the war-torn nation can take confidence from the fact that they gave a good account of themselves against the Sri Lankans. While Afghanistan will be fancying its chances against SA, the ‘Proteas’ would be more than keen to live up to its past reputation and make a statement.

SA has been mostly done in by its inexperienced batting line-up, coupled with injuries to a few of its key players. The South African batsmen have been struggling, and even in the wash-out game against West Indies, they were down at 29 for two before the match was called off.

Experienced Hashim Amla has been is in dismal form and the semi-finalists of the 2015 edition can only hope that the veteran batsman starts to fire. The responsibility rests on the shoulders of skipper Faf du Plessis and opener Quinton de Kock and the duo will be expected to bring their ‘A’ game to the fore against Afghanistan.

Batting remains a concern for the Asian team as well and with Mohammad Shahzad back home due to fitness issues, it will have its back against the wall.

The Afghanistan batters will have an uphill task while facing the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir. Just like their rivals, the Afghans would also be banking on their bowlers, led by leg-spinner Rashid Khan.