The Asian neighbors, Afghanistan and Pakistan will lock horns in the 24th match of the World T20 Cup. The match is scheduled to take place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Pakistan has already crossed the hard hurdles by beating two of the great teams in its group, India and New Zealand, and they almost have a fixed spot in the semis. On the other hand, Afghanistan too is coming from a massive win against Scotland. The Afghan batsmen played miraculously and posted a target of 190, and the bowlers exhibited better performance as they wrapped up the batting order of Scotland in just 10.2 overs.
Pakistan’s impeccable form
In the last two matches, Pakistan played an amazing cricket. Rizwan has been Pakistan's top scorer and Babar Azam also played a brilliant inning against India. Although Pakistan's top order glitched in the second match against New Zealand, Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali’s partnership in the middle order benefitted the team for a win.
The bowling order of Pakistan has been impeccable, especially Shaheen who is in a good form and picked up good wickets against India.
Afghanistan’s balanced squad
The squad of Afghanistan looked tremendous against Scotland. Almost all the batsmen played at a very good strike rate and contributed to the scoreboard. On the other hand, bowling was even better as they took down the whole team in 10.2 overs. But the situation won’t be the same in today’s match as there’s a big difference in Scotland and Pakistan’s bowling order.
The spinners on this team have a lot of mettle and they have the potential to nullify Pakistan’s batting order. In the last match, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Rashid Khan alone took 9 wickets.
Weather Report
The maximum and minimum temperatures at Dubai will be 34 and 23 degrees, respectively. With 40 percent humidity, the weather will be a little less humid.
Pitch Report
Dubai’s pitch is considered to be the best among UAE pitches. Because it provides a good balance between the bat and the ball. However, the toss will play an important role here. Because the team batting first might experience some trouble. Due to dew effect in the second innings, the bowlers, especially spinners, will not be able to get much help. Therefore, after winning the toss, the teams would prefer to bowl first.
Probable Playing XI For Pakistan
Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
Probable Playing XI For Afghanistan
Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Asghar Afghan, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Key Players Pakistan:
Babar Azam Mohammad Rizwan
Afghanistan
Hazratullah Zazai Rashid Khan
