Afghanistan finally showed up in the World Cup in the last match where they lost by just 11 runs against India. However, they have proved that they got the strength and quality to play in the current World Cup. Can they finally win a game today?
Bangladesh would be hoping to beat Afghanistan easily so that they don’t have to rely on failures of other teams to reach the semi-final. They won against the two major sides of this tournament and gave a good fight to the 5-time champions Australia in the previous match. It should be an easy task for them to beat Afghanistan despite Afghans shown some resilience in their game against India. Their batting is their main strength, and they can score runs without fuss whether they are batting first or second.
Afghanistan will rely on their spinners to give them the hope of winning the contest. They bowled beautifully on the Ages Bowl wicket on Saturday, and they will be playing again on the same track. They have nothing to lose, but they can surely spoil the party of others. That’s the only thing in their mind at the moment as said by their captain in the pre-match conference, ‘Hum to dubenge sanam saath tumhe bhi le dubenge’
ha ha ..Gold from Gulbadin Naib…when asked about the team’s approach Vs @BCBtigers #CWC19 #ICCWorldCup2019 pic.twitter.com/KGhd7r15GS
— Raj Mohan (@Non_rights) June 23, 2019
Players to watch out
Mohammad Nabi who has played an excellent inning against India and almost won the match for his team. His off-spin on the spinning track can help in breaking partnerships, with two spinners already doing well, his contribution with the ball would be a bonus point.
Shakib Al Hasan has a rare failure in the previous game against Australia; he has already scored 425 runs in the tournament, the second highest after Warner in the competition. He has contributed with the ball as well, and if he performs today, then it will easy for Bangladesh to win the match.
Afghanistan v Bangladesh in ODIs:
Overall: Matches 7, Afghanistan Won 3, Bangladesh Won 4
World Cup: Match 1, Afghanistan Won 0. Bangladesh Won 1
Recent Form (most recent first): Afghanistan L L L L L, Bangladesh L W NR L L
ICC Rankings: Afghanistan (10), Bangladesh (8)
Upcoming Records:
Shakib Al Hasan has scored 965 runs in World Cup and needs 35 more to become the first Bangladesh player to reach the 1,000 runs milestone.
Tamim Iqbal has scored 6,805 runs and needs 195 more to reach the 7,000 runs milestone.
Samiullah Shinwari has taken 45 wickets and needs five more to reach the 50 wickets milestone, and also the 1,000 runs/50 wickets milestone.
Squads:
Afghanistan: Gulbadin Naib (capt), Aftab Alam, Asghar Afghan, Dawlat Zadran, Hamid Hassan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Rashid Khan, Samiullah Shinwari.
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Abu Jayed, Liton Das (wk), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun (wk), Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal.
