T20 World Cup: After claiming two back to back wins in the first two matches of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 against India and New Zealand, Babar Azam’s Pakistan cricket team is just one win away from securing their semifinal spot. Men in Green will now face high on confidence Afghanistan, who thrashed Scotland in the last game by 130 runs. Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid Khan picked 4 wickets in that game while Mujeeb Ur Rahaman clinched 5 wicket haul. Both the spinners were just unplayable in that match and the Pakistan team will look to be prepared against them.
Match Details
Afghanistan vs Pakistan
ICC T20 World Cup 2021, 24th Match
Super 12 Group 2
October 29, Friday
7:30 PM
Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
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T20 World Cup: Babar Azam’s Pakistan one step away from sealing semi-final spot, will they overpower high on confidence Afghanistan?
Afghanistan vs Pakistan
Pakistan one win away from securing semi-final spot
Group 2 is a relatively easy one with teams like Scotland, Namibia and Afghanistan in it. Three big teams in the group are India, New Zealand and Pakistan. Babar Azam and boys have passed the two difficult tests in the Super 12 stage which was India and New Zealand. Men in Green thrashed India by 10 wickets in the opening fixture while they defeated New Zealand by 5 wickets in a low scoring thriller. Now Pakistan is sitting at the top of the table in Group 2 with 4 points in their kitty and their net run rate is also positive i.e. +0.738. If they manage to beat Afghanistan in their next game they will be through to the semifinal with two easy games against Namibia and Scotland.
Points Table
GROUP 1
| POS | TEAM | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | +3.614 | 4 | |
| 2 | 1 | +0.583 | 2 | |
| 3 | 1 | +0.253 | 2 | |
| 4 | 2 | +0.179 | 2 | |
| 5 | 2 | -1.655 | 0 | |
| 6 | 2 | -2.550 | 0 |
GROUP 2
| POS | TEAM | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | +0.738 | 4 | |
| 2 | 1 | +6.500 | 2 | |
| 3 | 1 | +0.550 | 2 | |
| 4 | 1 | -0.532 | 0 | |
| 5 | 1 | -0.973 | 0 | |
| 6 | 2 | -3.562 | 0 |
T20 World Cup: Babar Azam’s Pakistan one step away from sealing semi-final spot, will they overpower high on confidence Afghanistan?
Afghanistan vs Pakistan
Head to head – T20I
- Matches played – 1
- Pakistan won – 1
- Afghanistan won – 0
Players to watch out for – Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and explosive batting lineup
Even though Pakistan are high on confidence with two back to back wins they will not make a mistake by taking Afghanistan lightly as their star spinners Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman are in top-notch form coming into this game. Not just their bowlers but opening batsman Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad, middle-order batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Najibullah Zadran are in top form with the bat.
Afghanistan’s probable playing XI – Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Asghar Afghan, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Afghanistan Squad
Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Asghar Afghan, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Fareed Ahmad, Usman Ghani, Hamid HassanScotland
Afghanistan vs Pakistan
Group 2 qualification scenario
Babar Azam’s Pakistan are most likely to win at least one match from their next three games against Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia. This means they will be through while the fight for the second spot will be against India and New Zealand. On coming Sunday Team India will be facing Blackcaps which will be a virtual quarterfinal. Both the teams will be coming into this game after facing defeat against Pakistan.
Editors pick
