The left-handed wicketkeeper-batter from South Africa, Ryan Rickelton made headlines with his maiden ODI century against Afghanistan in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Ryan Rickelton‘s brilliant knock of 103 runs off 106 balls played a huge role in helping South Africa post a huge total of 315 runs in their competition opener. Notably, Ryan Rickelton became the first South African to achieve a century on his Champions Trophy debut and the first-ever wicketkeeper-batter from the nation to score a ton in the prestigious tournament.
Meanwhile, Ryan Rickelton born on July 11, 1996, in Johannesburg, developed a passion for cricket early on. He represented Gauteng and later played for the Lions in South Africa’s domestic circuit. His performances across formats earned him a call-up to the national team, making his international debut in March 2022.
Ryan Rickelton has since made himself as a three-format player, performing brilliantly in Tests, ODIs, and T20s. In early 2025, he proved his red-ball brilliance by scoring a magnificent 259 runs in a Test match against Pakistan. The southpaw has so far featured in 10 Tests, six ODIs, and 13 T20Is.
Ryan Rickelton’s 103 in Karachi on Friday, when South Africa totalled 315/6 and dismissed Afghanistan for 208, was the fifth century scored in the tournament. That’s more hundreds in the first three games than have ever been hammered in any edition of the Champions Trophy, or indeed in the first three matches in any edition of the men’s World Cup.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report: The weather conditions promise a nice day of cricket, 31 degree Celsius with a nice wind blowing across the stadium and there’s a light cloud cover as well. Talking about the boundary dimensions, to my right, it’s 67m and to my left is 62m and it’s 79m down the ground. Some greenery on this surface.
There’s some colour, there are some cracks and then it’s hard. I didn’t expect grass but in this case, there might be some sideways movement. The cracks are in the 6-8m area. The South African seamers will be licking their lips looking at this. I will probably have a bowl first, there’s cracks, there’s grass, you want to take a couple of wickets early and put pressure on the opposition. It may be a bowling surface, reckon Ian Bishop and Dale Steyn.
Toss : South African skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and chose to bat with four seamers and one spinner in the playing XI. Also Heinrich Klassen opted out to sit as a precautionary measure due to a left elbow soft tissue injury. Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi who also wanted to bat first decided to go with experienced players in the Playing XI.
Ryan Rickelton’s maiden ODI century aided by fifties from skipper Temba Bavuma, Rassie Van Der Dussen and Aiden Markram powers SA to 315 .
The foundations of the victory were laid by an effortlessly fine maiden ton from Ryan Rickelton, another in-form batter showing the value of reading a pitch and accumulating with care in this tournament. Before him, Bavuma made the smart call of batting first, drawing from Pakistan’s travails in the opening game at this venue where the dew never showed up to aid any chasing aspirations.
The openers, Ryan Rickelton and Tony de Zorzi, got off to a brisk start before the introduction of spin in the sixth over paid instant dividends. Veteran Mohammad Nabi, who became one of only five players to make a Champions Trophy debut aged 40 and above, struck with his first ball as de Zorzi pulled a short ball straight to mid-on after having added 28 for the first wicket.
It was a largely flawless innings from Ryan Rickelton. He never looked rushed; not when Tony de Zorzi fell early or when Bavuma took his time to get going. Ryan 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 early on when he flopped it straight to mid-on.
At the other end, Ryan Rickelton found a string of boundaries in the PowerPlay and while he hit the pacers largely in the ‘v’, he was unafraid to mix it up against the spinners and used his sweeps – both reverse and conventional – to good effect. Bavuma played the ideal foil by turning the strike over and keeping the scoreboard ticking from both ends.
Afghanistan suffered a scare in those early exchanges as swing bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi hobbled off the field with apparent discomfort after finishing his five-over spell, but did return at the death to send down three more overs.
Bavuma’s 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.
South Africa ticked along to 83 for 1 after 15 overs, but an important passage of play was about to come: South Africa batters vs Afghanistan’s spinners. That’s where Ryan Rickelton really showed his wares. He would have faced a lot of Rashid Khan in the SA20 nets as they were part of the victorious MI Cape Town side, and that experience showed.
Bavuma got to his second fifty away from home, as he continued his rich form. He had a solid 129-run stand for the second wicket with Ryan Rickelton, before holing out to deep midwicket as Nabi picked his second wicket.
Nabi was particularly excellent for Afghanistan and nearly accounted for Ryan Rickelton with an arm ball the left-hander looked to muscle over the top. Fortunately for South Africa, the miscue landed between two fielders on the off-side. That was about the only blemish as he got to a 48-ball half-century.
Bavuma was less adventurous with his strokeplay but still got to a 63-ball 50, surviving an Afghanistan review for a caught behind along the way. Afghanistan burnt another review against the South African captain but eventually saw the end of the 129-run second-wicket stand when Nabi had Bavuma (58 off 76) mishit a short ball to deep mid-wicket off the very next delivery.
In the 33rd over, Ryan Rickelton became the fifth centurion of the tournament by pushing a gentle single off the 101st ball he faced. However, he didn’t bat long enough thereafter as his MI Cape Town skipper Rashid Khan showed great awareness to fire a throw to the ‘keeper after stopping the ball on his bowling follow through. The ‘keeper caught Ryan Rickelton with his bat up in the air while diving to make his crease.
By that time, Ryan Rickelton had moved into his 90s, and had hardly broken a sweat. Afghanistan hardly helped themselves in the field, too. There were several misfields, and a run-out chance fluffed, while Noor Ahmad was particularly off-colour. He was either too short, or too full, and often tried to dart the ball in and lost his shape. Ryan Rickelton soon became the first South Africa batter to register a century on Champions Trophy debut with a push to long-off.
Afghanistan got a lucky break when Ryan Rickelton was run-out in bizarre fashion. He bunted a Rashid length ball back to the bowler, who fired a flat throw to the wicketkeeper. Ryan Rickelton, out of his crease, was caught off-guard just a touch, and as he put in the dive, his bat bounced just short of the crease. That meant even though his bat was over the line, it was in the air when Rahmanullah Gurbaz whipped the bails off.
At that stage, South Africa were 201 for 3 with another 15 overs to play. But they were also without the in-form Heinrich Klaasen, out with a left elbow injury, and needed to avoid a middle-order wobble. Van der Dussen and Aiden Markram ensured just that without causing any dip in the scoring rate.
The former completed a half-century after nearly two years, getting to the mark in 41 balls and was particularly good employing the sweep shot against Rashid. Markram did even better as he plundered six fours and a six in his 36-ball 52* to add those important runs past the 300-mark.
There was no respite for Afghanistan though. Van der Dussen, coming into the tournament not in great nick, was fluent and Markram found his stride as well, with both batters recording fifties. The last five overs yielded South Africa 51 runs as they posted an above-par total.
Rahmat Shah’s 90 runs the only bright spot as Kagiso Rabada’s 3-fer powers SA to thumping 107 runs victory over Afghanistan
Afghanistan faced an uphill challenge on their Champions Trophy debut considering that the highest target they’d successfully chased had been 286. They were dealt a further body blow as Rahmanullah Gurbaz fell to a well-directed short ball from Lungi Ngidi. Kagiso Rabada, bowling first change, struck in his second over as he flattened Ibrahim Zadran’s middle stump with a pacy delivery.
For Afghanistan to chase down 316, it was imperative for Gurbaz to get going. But South Africa’s new-ball bowlers weren’t ready to give him an inch. Ngidi’s short-of-a-length ball got the better of Gurbaz as he got a top-edge to short fine leg. No. 3 Sediqullah Atal struggled big time. Ibrahim Zadran finally broke the shackles by hammering Rabada over wide long-on. That obviously did not please the bowler, who returned with a 148.3kph thunderbolt and sent Ibrahim’s middle stump splat.
The South Africa pace bowlers concentrated on that hard length. According to ESPNCricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, in the first 15 overs, 33 of the balls bowled by South Africa were either short or short-of-a-good length. Atal’s difficult innings, where he was beaten ten times and played 14 false shots in the 32 balls he faced, ended with a run-out. Soon after, Hashmatullah Shahidi fell to a stunning catch by Bavuma at mid-on as Afghanistan stumbled to 51 for 4 after 15 overs.
By the 15th over, Afghanistan were teetering at 51 for 4 as Sediqullah Atal was run-out by a direct hit from Marco Jansen while Hashmatullah Shahidi was sent packing for a four-ball duck by Wiaan Mulder. Rabada and Jansen struck once each soon enough as Afghanistan sank further to 120 for 6.
With the writing on the wall, Rahmat Shah kept Afghanistan flame flickering with a fine rearguard innings. He struck nine fours and a six in his 92-ball 90 and helped reduce the margin of defeat when he eventually became the last player to be dismissed, with more than six overs still to play.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Temba Bavuma the winning SA skipper said : Clinical performance. We took the brave decision to bat first not knowing about the wicket. We were then clinical with the ball too, closest to one of our best performances. The wicket looked a lot different to what we are used to in Pakistan.
The batters fronted up and we managed to get a good score. There were a lot of cracks and we expected some variable bounce, it was a bit tricky at times. The guys at the back end pride themselves on having a strong finish. With the bowlers, it was about hitting that length hard. We need to do more of the same now against Australia.
Hashmatullah Shahidi the losing Afghanistan skipper said : I think we were not good enough while batting. The pitch was helping them in the second innings, but the way we batted in the first 20 overs wasn’t up to the mark. I think the toss was key today, there were many cracks on this pitch. Wasn’t a typical Karachi pitch. Their bowlers though bowled disciplined lengths.
My expectation was to play well, we have achieved a lot and we have the ability to fight everywhere. We have some important games left, we will forget today and look to move forward. (On Rahmat Shah) He played really well, it was an innings in tough times. Will take the positives with us and move forward, we still have a chance to play quality cricket.
Ryan Rickelton Player of the Match for his blistering 103 runs said : Was nervous coming into today, first ICC event. Was a bit edgy but happy to contribute to the team in a winning performance. We thought the surface would be a bit tacky, but it played alright. The bounce was a bit inconsistent but we worked our way through it. I thought we played nicely with the batting we had in the tank to get a competitive total on the board.
Disappointing to get out always, especially in that manner. Was looking to pull the trigger after that, but the guys who came in after did that and we managed to pick up a few extra boundaries. (On opening the batting) It is something I have done since I was a young kid, wasn’t too difficult. Wasn’t the best night with the gloves, but will learn from these mistakes.
Ryan Rickelton is showing the value of runs under the belt. He came into the Champions Trophy on the back of a solid SA20, where he was the fourth-highest scorer. Before that, he had smoked 259 in the New Year’s Test against Pakistan. On Friday, it was time for him to leave his mark on the 50-over format as he scored his maiden ODI century in his seventh game as South Africa began their Champions Trophy with a solid 107-run win over Afghanistan.
Batting first on a Karachi surface that had a nice layer of grass, South Africa rode on Ryan Rickelton’s 103 followed by steady fifties from Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram to rack up 315 for 6. That meant Afghanistan had to record their highest-ever successful chase if they had to win on Champions Trophy debut.
But they never really got close. Rahmat Shah was the only bright spot as he scored a sprightly 90 off 92 balls, and was the last batter to fall. But with a second-highest score of 18, Afghanistan were never really in it. Kagiso Rabada picked up three wickets, while Lungi Ngidi and Wiaan Mulder got two each as Afghanistan were bundled for 208 in 43.3 overs.
On a sunlit, balmy afternoon at the National Stadium in Karachi where the sparse crowd swapped the usual green for shades of Afghanistan blue, South Africa eased to a 107-run victory in their Champions Trophy 2025 opener. The Proteas, winners of the first edition of the ICC Knockout the spiritual precursor to the Champions Trophy, marched ahead early and stayed there for the full length of this contest.
Batting first, they racked up 315 riding on a pristine 103 from Ryan Rickelton and pulsating 52s from Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram, as well as a more measured half-century from Temba Bavuma. In reply, Afghanistan were hauled in well before the line despite a spirited knock from Rahmat Shah.
A solid start for the Proteas in the 2025 Champions Trophy. They didn’t slip on this banana peel this time, delivering a clinical performance with bat and ball to setup a routine win. A century from Ryan Rickelton with fifties from van der Dussen and Markram lit up the first innings, and then the South African pacers troubled Afghanistan with their discipline and consistency. Gurbaz and Zadran were out early, and then Atal was run out.
Skipper Shahidi was dismissed for a duck to leave his team at 50/4. Rahmat Shah kept one end tight, but Afghanistan failed to get any massive partnerships throughout the innings. Rabada bowled tight lines, Mulder used his cutters effectively and then Maharaj nicely slowed it up to keep South Africa in control of the game. Wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals, and Afghanistan have finally been bundled out for 208. Rahmat Shah unfortunately couldn’t notch up his ton either.
If South Africa didn’t enter the tournament as favourites, the pitiless dismembering of Afghanistan showed they are sturdy enough to mount a serious title challenge. Afghanistan, on the other hand, were toothless and without the personnel and wisdom of chasing down 300-plus totals in this format.