South Africa’s Jason Smith makes his ODI debut as a batsman against Afghanistan

In their first One-Day International (ODI) against South Africa outside of World Cups, Aiden Markram, captaining in lieu of an injured Temba Bavuma, requested that Afghanistan chase. The 250th ODI will be held in Sharjah, where the teams will play three matches.

Afghanistan’s bowling has been recognised by South Africa as their strongest feature. They will need to negotiate Rashid Khan’s return, who hasn’t played an ODI since the World Cup last year, along with the return of three other spinners. The playing XI includes AM Ghazanfar, Nangeyalia Kharote, and Mohammad Nabi, who has participated in all 25 of Afghanistan’s ODIs at this location. With Ibrahim Zadran sidelined due to an ankle injury, Riaz Hassan will start the batting alongside Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

Due to Bavuma’s absence, the decision at the top of the order was simple: Markram bats at No. 3 after Tony de Zorzi and Reeza Hendricks opened the batting. They have two seam-bowling all-rounders after an inexperienced middle order consisting of Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne, and rookie Jason Smith. In the first match, South Africa had four seam bowling options, with left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin chosen over legspinner Nqaba Peter.

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Although none of the South African players have ever participated in an ODI in Sharjah, they won’t be unduly alarmed by the strange surroundings. Despite being dry, the Sharjah surface was repaved a year ago, and growth is anticipated to be faster than in the past.