Opening for South Africa in Pakistan seems to be an enjoyable thing. The Proteas handed a debut to Matthew Breetzke in the Tri-Series clash against New Zealand and he smashed a record-setting score of 150.
In the same series, captain Temba Bavuma scored a fluent 82 against Pakistan. Though they lost both the matches, their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign was off to a superb start with a 107-run over Afghanistan at the National Stadium in Karachi, where once again an opening batter played the starring role.
Playing his seventh ODI, Ryan Rickleton scored seven boundaries and a six as he got to his maiden ODI century – a score of 103 which helped his side post a total of 315/6 in 50 overs.
Rickleton, who has been bought by Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction for INR 1 crore, named India opener Shubman Gill and Australian counterpart Travis Head as his source of inspiration for his approach while playing the match-winning knock.
“Yeah, if you had to ask me a few months ago, would I be sitting here and things work out the way they do – I would obviously say no, but it’s kind of a point where I am just really trying to simplify my batting,” Rickelton said in the post-match press conference.
Also Read:
“I have quite a nice foundation. I always want to be a three-format player. If you look at the guys that play three formats really well, like Travis Head, Shubman Gill, all play similar cricket across all three formats. So, I’m really just trying to keep it simple, be confident in the way I’m trying to play and obviously look to make an impact,” Rickleton added.
South Africa started off the tournament in a dominant fashion as they dismissed Afghanistan for 208 all out inside 44 overs to have a positive Net Run Rate of 2.140. The inaugural Champions Trophy from 1999 remains the Proteas’ only ICC tournament and Rickleton said they are eager to win it once again while being pragmatic about their chances.
“Obviously, we are desperate to win it, there’s no doubt about it, but in saying that we don’t burn ourselves with that extra pressure. As a group, we might not have had the best results coming into this tournament, but quietly, I think everyone’s quite confident. I don’t think we’re too burdened by the hunt to win the whole thing,” the 28-year-old said.
South Africa will next face Australia in their second Group B match on Tuesday in Rawalpindi.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
