Tristan Stubbs walked in to open the innings for the first time in his international career during South Africa’s run chase against England in Champions Trophy 2025 today (March 1).
Entering the match as firm favourites to join Australia in the semi-finals from Group B, South Africa bowled out England for 179. Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder picked up three wickets each to restrict the opposition to the paltry total.
In response, South Africa were forced to alter their opening combination that played in their first match against Afghanistan. While they stuck with centurion Ryan Rickelton, it was his opening partner Tony de Zorzi, who was missing.
Match 11, South Africa vs England
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De Zorzi was one of the two changes South Africa made due to an illness in their camp - captain Temba Bavuma was the other one. In de Zorzi's absence, Stubbs was asked to open the innings, while Heinrich Klaasen, who missed the last match due to a left elbow soft tissue injury, came straight into the XI, slotting back in the middle order, confirmed stand-in captain Aiden Markram at the toss.
Tristan Stubbs opens for the first time in international cricket
This was not only Stubbs’ maiden appearance as an opener for South Africa but also his first in List A matches. Overall, in his nascent ODI career, Stubbs has batted eight out of nine times at the No.4 position or lower. No.5 is where he has found himself at home, having scored his only fifty and century of his career.
South Africa have almost secured qualification for the Champions Trophy semi-finals. But what is the margin of loss they need to avoid against England?https://t.co/y5rjQkGD2T
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) March 1, 2025
A case can be made whether South Africa could have slotted Stubbs in the middle order. However, Klaasen’s return eliminated the possibility, with him taking back his desired middle-order slot. Since his ODI debut in 2018, Klaasen has amassed 1,701 runs at an average of 48.60 at No.5. Only Charith Asalanka has more – 2334 at 46.68.
Klaasen’s dominance in the middle-overs is backed by the numbers, suggesting South Africa’s best bet was to promote Stubbs to open the innings. They may also have wanted to ensure the majority of the batting lineup batted in the positions they would be expected to in the semi-finals and potential final.
The experiment, however, didn't work as Stubbs was castled by Jofra Archer for a duck in only the third over of the chase, leaving South Africa at 11-1.
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