South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma said batting first on the National Stadium pitch here was a "brave decision" and commended his players for doing good assessment of the wicket in their Champions Trophy opener against Afghanistan on Friday. The Proteas scored a massive 315/6 before dismissing their opponents for 208 runs to begin their campaign in the marquee ICC event with a 107-run victory. Bavuma, who himself contributed 58 runs, added that the pitch here reminded him of the surfaces prepared back home.

"Clinical performance. We got the rub of the green with the toss but it was a brave decision to bat first not knowing how it would play. We took care of that, got a competitive score and then were clinical with the ball," said Bavuma, who enjoyed a 129-run partnership with opener Ryan Rickelton (103), which helped South Africa amass the big total. "All in all, close to our best performance. The wicket looked different. Closer to a wicket back home. The batters do their assessment and then do what needs to be done. Lots of crack, a bit of variable bounce but assessing a good score was tricky," he added. He said that South Africa's bowling plan was to hit the deck hard and in the right areas, adding that it was now time to concentrate on tougher opponents.