Ahmedabad, Feb 11 (IANS) Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field first against South Africa in a Group D clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 on Wednesday here at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Afghanistan aim to secure their first win of the tournament and improve their fortunes against the previous edition’s runners-up, after losing their opener to New Zealand by five wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Led by Rashid Khan, the team, despite coming off a loss, should not be underestimated. They defeated New Zealand in the last T20 World Cup, and their win over cricketing giants Australia helped propel them to the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, South Africa started their campaign with a 56-run victory over Canada. They are arguably the best cricketing nation yet to win a Men’s T20 World Cup, along with, interestingly, their Group D rivals, New Zealand.

Winning the toss, Afghan captain Rashid said, “Fresh wicket and we’re looking forward to chase. Against the big teams in the WC, it’s a must-win game for us, need to put in the effort, don’t worry about the result, but just put your energy on the field. It’s a home ground, I have played for GT over the years in the IPL.

“I think this pitch will get better as the game goes on, that’s the reason we’re chasing. A couple of areas where we can improve – batting in the powerplay and we missed our lengths in the previous game. One change, Ziaur Rahmjan misses out, Noor Ahmad is in.”

Meanwhile, South African skipper Aiden Markram said, “We would have bowled first as well, quite a bit of moisture, but not a bad thing to bat. Put the runs on the board and apply the pressure. We had a good game against Canada and had a nice workaround. One change for us – we have one change, we’re playing the extra spinner in George Linde, he replaces Corbin Bosch.”

Playing XIs:

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad

South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi

–IANS

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