South Africa will face big slayers Afghanistan with one eye on their upcoming semi-final.
South Africa expect a fierce battle towards a rising Afghanistan crew of their ultimate round-robin match of the Cricket World Cup in Ahmedabad on Friday, based on middle-order batter David Miller.
Though it’s a lifeless rubber for the Proteas, who’ve already certified for subsequent week’s semi-finals, Afghanistan will be desperate to safe one other beautiful victory.
Ranked ninth on the planet, the Afghan facet have received 4 of their eight matches so far (together with shock wins over England and Pakistan) and one other victory would preserve their playoff hopes alive.
“They’re a team that’s certainly growing in confidence. They’ve shown that they can compete. I mean, in this World Cup they’ve done really, really well, beaten some big teams,” Miller mentioned on Thursday.
“It’s one thing that we’re very conscious of at World Cups, that there’s no straightforward sport within the sport of cricket, so we’re simply ensuring that we’re very well prepped with no matter sport we’re enjoying and crew we’re enjoying.
“It’s been good to watch the Afghanistan group going the way that they have with the spinners that they’ve got, the batters up front, they’ve done really well. Their opening stands have been really good, and then there have been contributions throughout the innings from the other batters. They’re a really strong team.”
Looking ahead
The Proteas already had one eye on their semi-final towards Australia on Thursday, and Miller mentioned right this moment’s fixture would assist them put together for that match.
While South Africa had received their final 4 ODI matches towards Australia – together with their first-round World Cup contest – Miller admitted the five-time champions would at all times be formidable opponents.
“They (Australia) are always a competitive team. They’ve got some incredible players and match winners and stuff amongst their team,” he mentioned.
“I believe from our facet it’s only one sport at a time, so [the match against Afghanistan] is de facto essential for us to nail down issues that we wish to work on.
“And then come the semifinal, I mean, obviously, it doesn’t really get better than that. A lot of excitement. And yeah, just a great occasion to be a part of.”
Friday’s match between South Africa and Afghanistan begins at 10.30am (SA time).
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