Why are Marco Jansen and Tabraiz Shamsi not playing ICC World Cup 2023, match 42 against Afghanistan?

South Africa and Afghanistan will square off in match 42 of the ongoing 2023 ODI World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, November 10.

The Proteas have made two changes to the side that was comprehensively beaten in their last game against India. Having already qualified for the semi-finals, South Africa have decided to rest Tabraiz Shamsi and Marco Jansen. They will be replaced by in-form pacer Gerald Coetzee and experienced all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo. Afghanistan, who are all but out of the semi-final race, have stuck to the same playing XI that lost to Australia in their last encounter.

South Africa and Afghanistan are playing their last league game. The former have won six matches and lost two out of the eight they have played. Afghanistan, on the other hand, have won four and lost four out of their eight games in the ODI World Cup 2023. The 'Blue Tigers' need to win by a mammoth margin to get into the top four. To put things into perspective, if the Asian side posts 500 runs on the board, they will have to defeat South Africa by 439 runs to claim the fourth spot.

What did the captains say at the toss?

Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and opted to bat first. He reckoned that the surface looked good and there could be spin in the second innings. Bavuma said that his team will get another chance to chase, something that has not been their forte in this tournament. The diminutive batter felt that the wicket could be slow to start with but the ball might skid on in the evening and dew could play a role as well.

"We want to bat first. The surface looks like there will be spin in the second innings so we are batting first. We are unchanged. It was a tough game for us and we were hurt. Today, it is an important game of the World Cup for us," Shahidi said.

Temba Bavuma said: "We have another chance to chase today and we want to do well. A strong Indian side put us under pressure with bat and ball. Tabraiz Shamsi and Marco Jansen have been rested today and Andile Phehlukwayo and Gerald Coetzee come into the side. I feel that it might skid on later. It might be a little slow to start with and there also might be a bit of dew in the evening."

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Ikram Alikhil (WK), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock (WK), Temba Bavuma (C), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Andile Phehlukwayo, David Miller, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi