ICC Men’s T20 WC 2026 | Match 13: South Africa vs Afghanistan | Preview and Prediction

Afghanistan will look to bounce back from their opening day defeat as they face a formidable South Africa side who will be looking to make it 2 wins in 2 in what promises to be a feisty Match Number 13 of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Here is our Preview and Prediction for the game

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 | Match 13: South Africa vs Afghanistan | 11:00, 11 February

South Africa could not have asked for a better start to their World Cup campaign as they registered a commanding victory against Canada by 57 runs in a contest that they dominated from start to finish.

The Proteas put on a formidable total in excess of 200 against Canada, with Aiden Markram’s 32-ball 59 the highlight of their batting innings, along with strong supporting contributions from Ryan Rickelton, David Miller, and Tristan Stubbs taking them to 213 in their 20 overs.

With the ball, they showed their quality, the variety, as well as the skill and class they had in their ranks, as they ensured Canada never got going in their run chase, picking up wickets at regular intervals to stifle any sort of momentum that they were building in their innings. 

Lungi Ngidi was the pick of the bowlers, with his 4-wicket haul ably supported by the discipline and control of Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, and Corbin Bosch. The Proteas will feel like they have managed to tick a lot of boxes in their first outing of the campaign, before they face bigger tests as they will look to go one step further and win the title this time around.

The one area they would want to take a look at is Quinton de Kock’s outing with the bat. The veteran was laboured and out of sync in his outing with the bat, making just 25 off 22 balls at a pretty ordinary strike rate of 113.64. South Africa will be hoping that he shakes off the rust and comes good against the Afghans.

For Afghanistan, it was a stuttering start to the tournament as they fell to a rather convincing defeat against New Zealand, as their score of 182 proved no match for the batting might of the Kiwis. They felt that they had enough runs on the board, but you could not help but wonder that they left at least 15-20 runs out there. 

The opening pair of Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz failed to fire, and while Gulbadin Naib provided a good launchpad with his quickfire knock in the middle stages, he failed to find enough support around him as they eventually finished a few runs short.

With the focus on their much-vaunted spin attack, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman got them to the dream start with the ball, but Tim Seifert ensured that there were no more hiccups as he took the attack to the Afghans. The likes of Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mohammad Nabi, and Azmatullah Omarzai went in excess of 10 rpo, thereby allowing the game to slip away from them.

Afghanistan will probably rue the fact that they did not give Noor Ahmad a place in the 11, especially given he knew the conditions at Chepauk, and the fact that New Zealand had 4 left-handed batsmen in their ranks, making him a favourable matchup against them. Given South Africa also have at least 3 southpaws in their top-6, expect Noor to be given a nod to play in this game.

The last time these two teams met in the tournament was the semifinal of the 2024 T20 World Cup in Tarouba, where the Proteas made easy work of the Afghans, who were playing their first-ever semifinal, skittling them out for just 56 before overhauling the target with ease.

This is once again going to be a contest between two high-quality sides that look to be evenly matched on paper, but given the manner in which South Africa dispatched Canada, and with Afghanistan looking a little ruffled after their loss to New Zealand, it is South Africa that start as favourites in this competition to win the match, and probably put one foot in the Super 8 stage of the competition.

Fantasy 11: Aiden Markram ( c ), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Gulbadin Naib, David Miller, Mohammad Nabi, Marco Jansen, Rashid Khan, Lungi Ngidi, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada.

Winners Prediction: South Africa

Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.