The 52nd game of the ongoing T20 World Cup will be played between Afghanistan and Bangladesh at Kingstown.
Match overview:
The match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh will be the last game of the Group Stage as after this game the four semi-finalists of the ongoing World Cup will be confirmed.
Afghanistan have a fair chance to make into the semi-finals, nevertheless, the scenario will be cleared when these sides square off.
Rashid Khan’s men have shown dominating performances in this T20 World Cup so far. They were a force to reckon with in the last year’s ODI World Cup as well but in this World Cup they have a fair chance to make it into the semi-final.
Afghanistan roared through in the Group Stage beating the likes of New Zealand. In the Super Eight they had a disappointing outing against India but they made history by beating Australia for the very first time in history.
Gulbadin Naib and Naveen-ul-Haq were the pick of the bowlers while the openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibarahim Zadran shared a century stand against Australia.
Naib, who featured in only 3 T20is this year, took 4 wickets and it was his maiden four-wicket haul that came in an important game against Australia.
Naveen was equally impressive as he took 3 wickets but the headline was how he removed Travis Head on a duck.
So, Afghanistan will be hopeful to defeat Bangladesh and their qualification scenario will become easy if India beat Australia in the upcoming encounter.
Bangladesh have shown below-par performances in this Super Eight stage. Their batting woes continued as their top-order collectively have a low scoring average as compared to the other teams playing in the Super Eight.
In the game against Australia, the Bengal Tigers even sat out Taskin Ahmed to add yet another batter.
Besides the batting lineup, Shakib Al Hasan’s performances weren’t satisfactory either. And he may be playing in his last T20 World Cup so he will look forward to ending this on a high note as beating Afghanistan can be his swansong in this World Cup.
Pitch and weather report:
The team who batted first won every game at Arnos Vale, including Bangladesh beating Nepal and Afghanistan overpowering Australia. So, whoever wins the toss, should bat first. Nevertheless, talking about the weather, there is some rain forecast so rain may disturb the play.
Head-to-head record:
Both sides have played 11 T20s so far in which Afghanistan stood victorious in 6 games while Bangladesh achieved victory in 5 encounters.
Prediction:
Given their thumping win over Australia, Afghanistan are favourites to win this encounter. Nevertheless, Bangladesh can shake up things for Afghanistan!
Where to watch:
Pakistan – PTV Sports, Ten Sports, Myco (Live streaming), Tamasha app (Live streaming), Tapmad (live streaming)
India – Star Sports
England – SkySport Network
USA and Canada (Willow TV)
Caribbean – ESPN Caribbean
New Zealand & Australia – Sky Sports NZ, Prime Video
UK & Northern Ireland – Sky Sports
Sri Lanka – Maharaja TV
Other regions – SuperSport, Sirasa, CricLife, STARZPLAY
