February 21, 2025: Wicketkeeper-batter Ryan Rickelton made historical past throughout his ICC Champions Trophy debut, turning into the primary South African participant to attain a century within the event. Rickelton’s good knock of 103 runs off 106 balls, together with seven fours and a six, helped propel South Africa to a aggressive whole in opposition to Afghanistan of their marketing campaign opener at Karachi on Friday. His strike price of 97.16 added to the dominance of his innings.
Rickelton’s century locations him within the firm of South African cricket legends like Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, Graeme Smith, and Jacques Kallis, all of whom have scored centuries in Champions Trophy historical past. He additionally joins former Proteas batter Gary Kirsten, who had scored 188 on his ICC Cricket World Cup debut in 1996, because the second South African to attain such a feat on their ICC event debut.
The 28-12 months-previous’s efficiency is a continuation of his high-quality kind throughout codecs this 12 months. Earlier in 2025, Rickelton had a shocking begin to the 12 months with a powerful 259 in opposition to Pakistan in Cape City in Checks. He adopted that up with an distinctive title-profitable efficiency within the SA20 season three, the place he collected 336 runs in eight innings at a mean of 48.00 and a strike price of 178.72, ending as his facet’s prime run-scorer.
In Friday’s match, Rickelton shared a 129-run partnership for the second wicket with Temba Bavuma (58 off 76 balls). The center order additionally contributed with stable half-centuries from Rassie Van Der Dussen (52 off 46 balls) and Aiden Markram (52 off 36 balls), bringing South Africa to a complete of 315/6 of their allotted 50 overs.
For Afghanistan, Mohammad Nabi was one of the best bowler, taking 2/51, whereas Fazalhaq Farooqi, Azhmatullah Omarzai, and Noor Ahmed every claimed a wicket. Afghanistan now wants 316 runs to win the match.
