After having won their opening matches quite emphatically, both the Aussies and the Proteas will be looking to grab the Semi-final spot in this massive encounter between two of the top contenders for the Champions Trophy.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 | Match 7: Australia vs South Africa | 14:30 IST, February 25
South Africa has a well-balanced side with a long batting lineup filled with explosive batters and a good bowling attack led by the experienced pacer Kagiso Rabada. Both their batting and bowling clicked against Afghanistan. Batting first, the Proteas managed a decent total of 315/6, powered by a century from opener Ryan Rickleton (103) and fifties from captain Temba Bavuma and Aidan Markram. In response, Afghanistan was bowled out for a paltry 208 with only Rehmat Shah (90 runs) fighting a lone battle. Kagiso Rabada was the star of the show for the Proteas bowling as he took 3/36 and was ably supported by Lungi Ndidi and Wiaan Mulder who took two wickets each.
The South Africans had a great outing and won by a huge margin of 107 runs which has also boosted their run-rate but the Australian batting is a different challenge altogether.
The Aussies are playing this competition with an inexperienced fast bowling lineup as Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are all missing from this mega event. The lack of experience showed in their opening match against England where they conceded a huge total of 351/8 as England opener Ben Duckett ran riot with 165 runs off 143 balls along with Joe Root who scored a vital 68 runs. However, newbie Ben Dwarshuis and leg-spinner Adam Zampa ensured with timely wickets that the total didn’t get insurmountable with the dew factor to consider in the second innings. The strong Australian batting lineup then chased down the total in 47.3 overs with the help of Josh Englis’s blistering counter-attacking knock of 120 not out off 83 balls, supported by Alex Carey (69 runs) and Mathew Short (63 runs).
While there is no doubt about their batting strength, the Aussie bowling is definitely their weakness with an over-reliance on Zampa for the wickets in the middle overs. In this game too, the toss will play a major role as conditions could favour the team who bats second. A tough one to call but the Aussie batting, mentality and confidence after that win against England makes them the favourites for this one.
Fantasy XI: Travis Head, Temba Bavuma, Steve Smith (c), Aidan Markram, Josh Englis (wk), Alex Carey, David Miller, Adam Zampa, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.
Winner’s Prediction: Australia
Venue: Rawalpindi, Pakistan
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