Australia vs South Africa: The ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Who will win this battle?

     File: Steve Smith and Temba Bavuma credit-ICC

Overview

The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 7th match will be played between the ODI World Champions Australia and South Africa at the Rawalpindi cricket stadium today. It will be a day and night match. Both teams have already won their 1st group-stage matches, South Africa thumped Afghanistan comfortably in their 1st match Whereas Australia beat their arch-rivals England in their opening chase where they chased a record total of 353 runs.

This match holds a lot of importance to both teams as each team would like to continue its winning momentum and win this match to further stamp its chances for the Semi-final spot. South Africa and Australia have produced high-voltage matches and Everyone is expecting that this match will also be a good contest. Both teams are currently Powerhouses in ODI cricket, including players from both sides who can single-handedly win the match for their sides. The crowd is expected to come in large numbers to support both teams. 

In this article, we will discuss the squads and Key players, head-to-head record, recent performances, pitch and conditions, and Match predictions.

Team News

Both Teams would likely go with the same players who have won their 1st game. Henric Kalassan is likely to be back to playing 11 after being rested from the last game due to an injury. He will replace Rassie Vanderdusen. The last match that was played at this venue yesterday showed that there was good assistance for the spinners as Bracewell picked up 4 wickets. So, South Africa may go with Trabriaz Shamsi to boost their spin department. 

    Photo: Henric Kalassaan credit-ICC

Head to Head and Recent performances 

If we look at the history South Africa and Australia have played 110 ODI matches with each other. South Africa has the upper hand as they have won 55 matches whereas Australia came on top in 51 games.  The last time these two teams came across each other was in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 semi-final where Australia earned the hard-fought 3 wickets win as they advanced to the final.

If we look at the recent performances south Africa is coming in this match on the back of a commanding victory against Afghanistan whereas Australia has also won their opening game against England.

    Photo: Steve Smith and Quinton De Kock credit-ICC

Key Players to watch

South Africa 

• Ryan Rickelton

Ryan Rickelton is in sublime form of his career across formats as he scored a fantastic hundred in the last against Afghanistan. South Africa would like their opener to continue his top form and go big again in this very important match.

• Henric Kalassan

Henrich Kalassan is making his comeback from injury but he is one of the most destructive batters in the world of cricket right now. He is in great form and has scored a lot of runs over the last two years. When he gets going it's really hard for the opposition to stop him. South Africa will be hoping for his star batter to find his best touch again in this all-important match to get them to a good total.

• Kagiso Rabada

Kagiso Rabada is one of the most skillful fast bowlers in the world right now. He is the main stray of the South African pace attack in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. His ability to swing the ball both ways at pace with accurate lines and lengths makes him a tough bowler to deal with. South Africa would like their star bowler to be at his best in this clash with the Titans and provide them wickets with the new ball.

• Travis Head

Travis Head is a big game player he has already played some high-quality knocks in the knockout matches of different ICC events. Everyone still remembers his epic knock in the final of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 final against India where he led the chase that was never going to be easy against a quality Indian bowling attack on a tricky surface. Australia would like their prime player to find his best touch in this contest.

    Photo: Travis Head credit ICC

• Steve Smith

Steve Smith is one of the best players in the world right now, He is one of the Fab 4 players in the world who have been recognized as the best players across all formats over the last 10 years. Steve Smith is also leading the Australian team in the absence of  Pat Cummins so they would like him to lead from the front and bring his best form in this contest.

• Josh Inglis

Josh Inglis is the man who was the main architect of Aussies win in the last game. He played a counter-attacking knock of 120 runs in just 86 balls to set the tempo of the chase. He is the in-form batter Aussies would like him to go big again to get them a good total in Rawalpindi.

Pitch and conditions

There is a heavy rain prediction in Rawalpindi today so, rain might affect this game but we are expecting the weather will be cleared in the later stages of the evening. The pitch is expected to be slow and spin-friendly but it would be decent enough to have good runs for the batters. As Steve Smith said earlier we are expecting a high scoring again.

Match Prediction

It will be an evenly contested match as both teams have had good performances recently. Each team has top players who can win the game for them. But in the absence of the front-line pace trio South Africa is having a little edge going into the match. But Australia has batting depth and if their inexperienced pacers stand up and deliver then we will have a great game surely.

    Photo: Alex Carey and Lundi Nagidi credit-ICC

So, What do you think about who will win this epic encounter? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.