The Albany Gazette - Bavuma wary of Afghanistan challenge in Champions Trophy

It will be the first meeting between the countries since Afghanistan beat South Africa 2-1 in a one-day series in Sharjah last September.

Bavuma said Afghanistan would draw confidence from that series going into their Group B encounter.

"They are a highly competitive team," said Bavuma. "I think they've got a lot of experience within their team.

"Guys who have that international pedigree at least from a skill point of view and we have to bring out our A-game."

"We played against them mid-to-late last year and they were victorious, so they won't be short of any type of confidence coming into the game tomorrow but in terms of preparations we have ticked all the boxes," he added.

South Africa will be at full strength with Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and Rassie van der Dussen all available, having sat out the recent tri-series in Pakistan.

Despite losing to Pakistan and New Zealand in that series, Bavuma felt his team has prepared well.

"We understand, you know, the Champions Trophy is a little bit different, it's almost like every game is a knockout type of thing and our mindset really is to make sure that we pitch up and play our best game of cricket," said Bavuma.

"Hopefully we're playing five games and not three games of cricket in this tournament. I think most importantly, we win the moments that matter."

Australia and England are the other two teams in Group B, with Pakistan, India, New Zealand and Bangladesh in Group A.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

South Africa won the inaugural Champions Trophy -- then named the ICC Knock-Out Trophy -- in Bangladesh in 1998.

But they have since fallen short in major tournaments, often losing in the knock-out rounds, and earning the tag of "chokers".

They lost in the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup in India in 2023 and were runners-up to India in last year's T20 World Cup held in the United States and the West Indies.

Bavuma dismissed fears the long title drought would weigh on the minds of the players.

"There's no negativity from the fact that we haven't been able to be successful in other ICC events or editions," said Bavuma.

"But there is a lot more positivity and confidence in terms of our ability or how far we can go within the tournament."

(B.Ramirez--TAG)