Karachi, Feb. 21 -- A fighting knock by Rahmat Shah could not eclipse Ryan Rickelton's century and a fine effort from South African pacers as Afghanistan went down to Proteas in their ICC Champions Trophy opener at Karachi on Friday.

Chasing 316 runs, Afghanistan lost wickets at regular intervals. However, Rahmat kept fighting, trying to reduce the gap of defeat to the shortest margin possible and perhaps pull off a miracle. However, SA was too good and Afghanistan succumbed to a 107-run loss.

In the run-chase of 316 runs, Afghanistan was dealt a massive blow when the opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz (10), their most consistent batter, was removed by Lungi Ngidi just after conceding a boundary. A top-edge landed into Keshav Maharaj's hands at ...