Against Afghanistan in Karachi, South Africa’s innings saw four players scoring half-centuries, a rare occurrence in the Champions Trophy history.
After opting to bat first, South Africa posted 315-6 in their tournament opener at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi. A chanceless maiden century from Ryan Rickelton spearheaded the batting effort. Rickelton, who smashed a career-best 259 in Tests last month, hit 103 off 106 balls riding on seven fours and a six.
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Captain Temba Bavuma (58 off 76) and Rassie van der Dussen (52 off 46) chipped in with vital contributions. Finally, it was Aiden Markram who provided a late impetus to the innings with a blazing fifty. Markram got to his landmark off 33 balls, the quickest on the day. He eventually finished unbeaten on 52 off 36, smashing six fours and a six.
Ryan Rickleton's latest first-class innings: 259 (343)
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) February 21, 2025
Latest List A innings: 103 (106)
Latest T20 innings: 33 (15)
The South Africa opener continues his fine form 💪#SAvAFG #ChampionsTrophy pic.twitter.com/3khtWEnXou
South Africa register four fifty-plus scores in a single Champions Trophy innings
This match was only the second time a Champions Trophy innings contained four fifty-plus scores. The previous instance was achieved by India when they posted 319-3 against Pakistan in 2017 with Rohit Sharma (91), Shikhar Dhawan (68), Virat Kohli (81*) and Yuvraj Singh (53) dominating the batting card.
| Team | Opposition | Date | Venue | Players |
| India | Pakistan | Birmingham | June 4, 2017 | Rohit Sharma (91), Shikhar Dhawan (68), Virat Kohli (81*), Yuvraj Singh (32) |
| South Africa | Afghanistan | Karachi | February 21, 2025 | Ryan Rickelton (103), Temba Bavuma (58), Rassie van der Dussen (52), Aiden Markram (52*) |
Notably, South Africa hold the record for achieving the rare fifty-plus quadruple the most number of times (four) in the ODI World Cup as well, having done so twice against West Indies (2007 and 2015), and once each versus the Netherlands (2007) and England (2023).
In response, Afghanistan, making their tournament debut, never looked like knocking down the big total. They lost their prolific opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (10) and Ibrahim Zadran (17) cheaply, slipping to 38-2 inside the powerplay. Barring No.4 Rahmat Shah’s 92-ball 90, no other Afghanistan batter put up a fight and that reflected in the 107-run margin of defeat.
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