Rickelton headlines South Africa's emphatic win over Champions Trophy debutants Afghanistan

Ryan Rickelton sizzled with his maiden ODI ton to power a 107-run win for South Africa over Afghanistan to kickstart their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign in Group B.

The 28-year-old piled on 103 runs off 106 deliveries, a knock composed of seven fours and one maximum to lead the Proteas' charge enroute to 315/6.

Defending a mammoth total, the Proteas quicks saw through a comfortable win with pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada leading the charge with a three-wicket haul.

Also among the wickets for South Africa were Lungi Ngidi and Wiaan Mulder, who claimed a brace each, while Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj also finished on the wickets tally.

The Proteas furthermore asserted control of their defence of 316 with an excellent fielding display as Marco Jansen produced a top-notch direct hit to remove Rahmat Shah. Skipper Temba Bavuma then latched onto a good catch at mid-on off Mulder's bowling to dismiss Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi for a duck.

Rahmat Shah played a lone-warrior knock, amassing 90 off 92 deliveries to hold the fort at one end as wickets fell at regular intervals at the other.

Ticking the scoreboard with a resilient effort, Rahmat laced his knock with nine boundaries and a maximum but eventually fell to Kagiso Rabada as the final wicket of the night.

Earlier, South Africa won the toss and opted to bat first against Afghanistan, who were playing their first-ever Champions Trophy fixture.

After the Proteas lost Tony de Zorzi in the powerplay, Rickelton combined alongside his skipper Temba Bavuma, who scored 58 off 76 deliveries, to add 129 runs for the second wicket.

Bavuma's stay in the middle was cut short by Mohammad Nabi, who returned to the attack to deliver a much-needed breakthrough for Afghanistan.

Rassie van der Dussen also lived up to his stellar reputation in the ODI format and compiled a 46-ball-52 before falling to Noor Ahmed.

The Proteas were given additional push in the closing overs as Aiden Markram shifted gears, upping the ante to score a quickfire fifty.

Rickelton was then dismissed by Rashid Khan, who produced a stellar run-out off his own bowling to get rid of the centurion.