On Saturday, March 1, England will play South Africa in Match 11 of the Champions Trophy 2025 at the National Stadium in Karachi.
Following consecutive losses to Afghanistan and Australia, respectively, England is out from the battle for the semi-finals. For pride, they play this game. Notably, this is Jos Buttler’s final game as captain of England because to the upheaval brought on by their dismal recent limited-overs cricket performances.
More than a week ago, South Africa defeated Afghanistan by a commanding 107-run margin in their opening encounter. Without a ball being bowled, their subsequent match against Australia was abandoned. The group has a chance to go to the semifinals. They have a far higher net run rate than Afghanistan, who are also on three points, thus even if they lose this game, they can still qualify.
Update on Toss
After winning the toss, England decided to bat first.
Temba Bavuma and Mark Wood are the match’s main absentees.
Mark Wood is out for England because of a knee injury he suffered in the last game. The pacer is replaced by Saqib Mahmood.
Due to illness, South Africa’s opening batsman Tony de Zorzi and skipper Temba Bavuma are in the team hotel. Heinrich Klaasen and Tristan Stubbs return to the starting lineup.
What did the captains say at the toss?
Jos Buttler (England):
We are gonna bat first today, looks like a decent wicket, a few cracks there. I felt like it was time, so I didn’t want to take more time to take that decision. It was an easy decision and I will do it for one last time, hopefully we can do well. A bit of sadness as well, it’s an honour to captain your country, it’s something you dream about and I have had some good moments along the way. Saqib Mahmood comes in, he is a good new-ball bowler and it’s exciting to have him.
Aiden Markram (South Africa)
We are actually happy to chase, haven’t chased in this comp yet, we are looking forward to have a good game against a strong English side. Two guys have had illness around the camp, Tony and Temba miss out. Unfortunate that they miss out but hopefully they will recover. Our last game got rained out, we had a few training sessions, we are ready for this game.
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