Champions Trophy 2025: Afghanistan vs South Africa, Match 3 - Top player battles to watch out for

The National Stadium in Karachi is set to host the battle between two of the most exciting teams in international cricket. On one hand, are the unpredictable underdogs Afghanistan and on the other are the mighty South Africans. It is set to be a great battle between these two teams which will feature some exciting players in the mix. While the Afghans would want to take revenge for the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final, South Africa will also want to keep their hopes alive for an ICC trophy which they have failed to win since 1998.

There are some great battles to look forward to in this upcoming event which will also be the first match of Group B. Though Afghanistan are making their debut in the Champions Trophy they will be playing in favorable conditions and recently had a great run in their last ODI series. South Africa might have faced problems but still have some players who can be a threat to the Afghans in the match.

Here are the top 3 player battles to watch out for from the Afghanistan vs South Africa clash:

3. Temba Bavuma vs Fazalhaq Farooqi

This will be one of the battles to look forward to which will feature South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma and Afghanistan swing specialist left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi. Bavuma has shown some promising performances at the top in the last few innings and Farooqi has also been sensational with the new ball. This will be an interesting battle between the star opener and the Afghan pacer.

Speaking of the head-to-head stats between the two players, Bavuma has faced 17 deliveries from Farooqi and though he has not been able to dismiss Bavuma, he has contained him. Bavuma has only scored 15 runs off him and has a strike rate of only 88.2 so far in ODI cricket against him.

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