South Africa 315 for 6 (Rickelton 103, Bavuma 58, Makram 52*, van der Dussen 52, Nabi 2-51) beat Afghanistan 208 (Rahmat 90, Rabada 3-36, Mulder 2-36, Ngidi 2-56) by 107 runs
It was a largely flawless innings from Rickelton from start to finish. He never looked rushed; not when Tony de Zorzi fell early or when Bavuma took his time to get going. Rickelton struck boundaries whenever he got a chance. When he didn’t, he quietly rotated the strike. He started with a lovely punch past mid-off third ball before going back-to-back against Fazalhaq Farooqi in the fifth over, once with a fierce pull through midwicket and then a cut past point.
De Zorzi also struck two fours but fell to a rather nonchalant delivery from Mohammad Nabi. Introduced in the attack in the sixth over, Nabi’s first ball was a drag-down on off stump. De Zorzi could have walloped that anywhere; instead, he flopped it straight to mid-on.
Bavuma walked in at No. 3 and took his time to settle in. His first 19 balls yielded only seven runs before he got a couple of fours away to get into the groove. Rickelton, meanwhile, picked Azmatullah Omarzai for two delightful fours to raise his fifty off just 48 balls.
