In a group that includes New Zealand and AfghanistanAvoiding upsets against Canada and UAE is imperative for any team looking to reach the Super Eights and Markram was pleased with his opening outing.

He said: “Important (to win), we saw early on, anybody can beat anybody. You don’t take anybody lightly. We were strong in all three areas.”

Next up is Afghanistan, again in Ahmedabad, and Markram admits it’s a step up in class.

He added: “Semi-finalist in the last edition, game of the day too, so we have to be on it.”

Afghanistan are already in the last chance saloon after losing to New Zealand in Chennai on Sunday. The Asian team were firmly in the hunt after posting 182 but a sloppy bowling display allowed the Black Caps to reach their target with the loss of five wickets and few alarms.

Afghanistan’s pace attack of Fazalhaq Farooqui and Ziaur Rahman failed and coach Jonathan Trott admitted that execution was a problem for his side.

The former England batsman said: “We thought the cracks (there) would be a bit of uneven bounce and we were right with that. I think the selection was right, we didn’t bowl well enough. The seamers unfortunately didn’t bowl well enough. I thought they (New Zealand batsmen) played well. They put pressure on the seamers.

“Hindsight is always a good thing or a dangerous thing. I didn’t think it would spin a huge amount. I know Noor (Ahmad) has got experience playing here, but it’s a new wicket, so it’s not like he’s bowled on it before. There’s that, but you always think whenever you lose, do you wish you could have done something different?”

Team News for Afghanistan vs South Africa

South Africa are likely to go with the same XI. It’s the same venue and their team had a nice balance against Canada.

Afghanistan could bring in left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmed, who impressed for Chennai Super Kings during IPL 2025, to threaten Rahman.

Predicted line-ups for Afghanistan vs South Africa

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbuddin Naib, Sidiqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Mujeeb ur Rehman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqui.

South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickleton, Dewald Brewis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jensen, Corbin Bosh, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi

How to watch Afghanistan vs South Africa

Afghanistan vs South Africa starts tomorrow morning at 05.30 UK time. The T20 World Cup will be shown live exclusively in the UK Sky Sports. You can stream it on the Sky Go app.

For coverage elsewhere in the world, click here For details of your local rights holder.

Prediction for Afghanistan vs South Africa

South Africa’s opening performance was exactly what they wanted: stress-free with room to grow.

They will need to bring their A game against an Afghanistan team that can beat anyone on their day.

But we’re going with the Proteas for what could be a high-scoring affair.