The 5th match of the tournament will be of Group C between Afghanistan (AFG) and Uganda (UGA). The match will be live at 6:00 A.M. (IST) and 08:30 P.M. (local).
Teams Analysis
Afghanistan (AFG):
Once an underdog team and now one of the strong contenders in this format. Since many players in this squad played several league matches all over the world and as a result it improved their gameplay. In the 2023 ODI World Cup, they just missed the chance by a mere margin to mark their place into the Semis. Now in this T20 World Cup, they are the definite threat to the other big names out there.
The team will be led by Rashid Khan, who has a tremendous experience in international cricket. He played many leagues all around the globe and is currently one of the best T20 players in the world. He has been a brilliant bowler and can also contribute some valuable runs with the bat towards the end. He has taken 138 wickets with an economy of 6.07 and scored 403 runs till now.
The team’s opener and keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz has also many experiences in the T20 format as he also played many league matches. To his credit he got one century and seven half-centuries to his name in the international circuit. He has a strike rate of 138.01 and scored 1376 runs with the bat. The other opener of the team Ibrahim Zadran has played well in the ODI World Cup and now it is his turn to get his name into this shortest format also. He has six 50+ knocks to his name in this format.
Najibullah Zadran, the middle order batter has shown a lot of dependability in the mid overs. He got huge experience in the international circuit which helped the team quite a lot during the struggling phases. He got 1808 runs with a healthy strike rate of 138.54. The emerging new talent all-rounder, Azmatullah Omarzai, has shown brilliancy in both the departments. In his short tenure of international cricket he got some success with both bat and bowl. He has scored 288 runs and picked 26 wickets in his 36 matches.
Just like Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi has also been the team’s pillar from the start of their success. He also led the team earlier and has a lot of experience in T20 cricket internationally and also got the experience by playing for many franchises in different leagues around the world. He is one of the best all-rounder team has and managed 2109 runs and got 93 wickets to his name.
Gulbadin Naib, also has the tendency to go big and can grab some crucial wickets in the middle. He has 3 half-centuries to his name and got 26 wickets in 65 matches. The pace department will be led by Naveen-ul-Haq, as his variation is the key to success and batters find it difficult to play against him. He has taken 46 wickets till now with an average of 22.08.
Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman and Noor Ahmed will assist the skipper in the spin department. Both of them are currently one of the best spinners in the world. Mujeeb has an economy of 6.37 while Noor has 7.90.
Probable Playing 11 of Afghanistan (AFG):
Rashid Khan ©, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Noor Ahmed.
Uganda (UGA):
They played all the qualification matches of the T20 World Cup starting from 2007, but were unfortunate to count their name into the main round. Now in this season, they will be playing their first ever ICC T20 World Cup. A much needed tournament for this East African country to make it count.
The team will be led by Brian Masaba, who has a decent experience in the international circuit. He is basically a bowler but can sometimes contribute with the bat also. In the recent past few matches, he hasn’t seen much bowling and hasn’t been much effective in his batting also. He took 19 wickets and scored 435 runs in his 59 international matches.
Team’s opener Ronak Patel, gave the team a solid start most of the times but his strike rate is little to worry about which is 105.54. He needs to be aggressive at the start. He scored 4 half-centuries till now. Roger Mukasa has been one of the most consistent hitters in the squad. He contributed runs in most of the matches and that he already showed in the warm-up match where he scored brilliant 51 runs against Namibia. With a strike rate of 121.51, he scored 1186 runs.
Simon Ssesazi is the only batter in the team who scored a century in the international match in T20. He is also a consistent player of the team and has 2072 runs in 76 innings with a strike rate of 123.48. He has one century and 16 half-centuries to his name. Riazat Ali Shah is one of the best all-rounders in the team. His contrition is more towards the batting side than bowling but despite this he got some crucial wickets for the team. He has 1212 runs and 40 wickets to his name.
Dinesh Nakrani, is known for his power hitting in the death overs. If he sticks to the pitch, then he might be more aggressive than the other batters in the team. He has managed 881 runs with a strike rate of 131.29 and also got his hands well in the bowling, taking 67 wickets with an economy below 6 (5.62). Alphesh Ramjani played only the shortest format for his team and contributed well in both the departments with 569 runs and 70 wickets in 39 matches. His spin is very hard to play due to which his economy is down to 4.74.
Frank Nsubuga batted in the lower middle order and has a strike rate of 100.63 but with the bowl he has comparatively better stats and has 55 wickets to his name with an economy of 4.79. Kenneth Waiswa has done the leadership role for the team earlier and has been one of the best all-rounders in the team. He has scored 710 runs and taken 44 wickets in 69 matches.
Henry Ssenyondo is the team’s best bowler and with his brilliant slow left arm orthodox he grabbed 94 wickets for the team with an economy of 5.38. Bilal Hasan will lead the pace department from the team and has taken 65 wickets till now and got most wickets during the powerplay, therefore he might be a dangerous one in starting 6 overs.
Probable Playing 11 of Uganda (UGA):
Brian Masaba ©, Ronak Patel, Roger Mukasa, Simon Ssesazi, Riazat Ali Shah, Dinesh Nakrani, Alphesh Ramjani, Frank Nsubuga, Kenneth Waiswa, Henry Ssenyondo and Bilal Hasan.
Pitch Report for the match between Afghanistan (AFG) and Uganda (UGA):
The match will be played at Providence Stadium, Guyana. The pitch acts as balance and both departments will enjoy this. But earlier when the first match was played between West Indies and PNG, the bowlers had the upper hand and batters found it difficult to score runs. Therefore it might again work for bowlers more and batting first might be the best option after winning the toss.
Weather Report:
Again in this ground, there is a 50% possibility of rain on the match day. But still the full match might happen as expected. The higher temperature will be around 31 degree celsius while the lower one will be close to 26 degree celsius. Humidity is expected to be quite high and mighty close to 80%.
Best 11 for the match between Afghanistan (AFG) and Uganda (UGA):
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (vc), Ibrahim Zadran, Roger Mukasa, Simon Ssesazi, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Dinesh Nakrani, Rashid Khan ©, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Bilal Hasan.