Karachi, Feb 21 (PTI): South Africa defeated Afghanistan by 107 runs in their Champions Trophy match with opener Ryan Rickelton smashing a century and pacers Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada doing the maximum damage here on Friday.
Electing to bat, the Proteas put up a mammoth 315 for 6 in 50 overs before dismissing Hashmatullah Shahidi's side for 208 runs to begin their campaign in the marquee event on a blazing note.
Rickleton reeled off 103 off 106 balls with the help of seven fours and one six to lead an aggressive batting display with captain Temba Bavuma (58 off 76 balls), Rassie van der Dussen (52 off 46 balls) and and Aiden Markram (50 not out off 34 balls) scoring half centuries.
In reply, Afghanistan were all out for 208 in 43.3 overs with middle-order batter Rahmat Shah scoring a fine 92-ball 90.
Brief scores:
South Africa: 315/6 in 50 overs (Ryan Rickelton 103, Temba Bavuma 58, Rassie van der Dussen 52, Aiden Markram 52 not out; Mohammed Nabi 2/51).
Afghanistan: 208 all out in 43.3 overs (Rahmat Shah 90; Lungi Ngidi 2/56, Kagiso Rabada 3/36, Wiaan Mulder 2/36).
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Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he has not yet considered whether he would continue the ceasefire involving Iran, while also claiming the United States holds the advantage in negotiations.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was prepared to make a deal with “whoever is running the show” in Iran.
“They are fighting with each other, there’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership in many cases. I think they’re fighting not to be leader because we knocked out two levels of leaders,” he said.
Trump added, “When they want they can call me. We have all the cards, we’ve won everything.”
Referring to ongoing negotiations, he said, “They gave us a paper that should’ve been better. And, interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it [envoy trip to Pakistan], within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better.”
“We talked about they will not have a nuclear weapon, very simple … They offered a lot, but not enough,” he added.
When asked whether he would continue the ceasefire, Trump replied, “I haven’t even thought about it.”
The remarks come as uncertainty remains over the future of the temporary truce and broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
