Match 22: PAK vs AFG| Game Analysis| Pitch Report| Best 11

The 22nd match of the tournament will be played between Pakistan (PAK) and Afghanistan (AFG).

Current Standings:

Pakistan (PAK) Analysis:

Pakistan started the tournament pretty well but their back to back two matches will put them in a slight back foot. They were having some improvement in the batting department but their bowling especially the fielding seems to be a crack for them which results in losing the matches.  

Tournament performance so far:

The opening pair of Pakistan is doing well in the World Cup so far with Abdullah Shafique, a guy who gave his team a solid in all the three matches he played in this tournament. He scored 197 runs till now which includes 1 century and 1 half century. He is batting with an average of 65.67 and a perfect replacement for Fakhar Zaman who was struggling to score runs. Imam-ul-Haq also played well in the last match against Aussies where he scored 70 runs and looked in great touch.

Babar Azar the skipper of the team is struggling with his performance so far just 1 half century in four matches with the scores of 5, 10, 50 & 18 runs. He is one of the performing players in the team but his low scores didn’t match his capability. Mohammad Rizwan is looking in great form having scored 294 runs till now in the 4 matches with an average of 98. He scored 1 century and 1 half century in the tournament so far. 

Saud Shakeel found a great rhythm in the middle overs. He started well but his conversion is not so good. In his four matches he scored 68, 31, 6 & 30. Still he batted well in comparison to other players in the team. Iftikhar Ahmed, one of the experienced players in the team, hasn’t been good with the bat till now in the World Cup . He wasn’t able to pick the balls and some misfortune happened with him during his batting. Though now he adds bowling options to the team and as compared to batting he bowls well. 

Shadab Khan remained on the bench in the last match, but wasn’t very successful with the bat and bowl. Against Netherlands he batted well in the death overs but against India and Sri Lanka he wasn’t able to score much and with the ball he got 2 wickets till now and the spells of him were very expensive. Mohammad Nawaz also finds it difficult to show his performance with the bat and bowl. He scored 57 runs and took 2 wickets in 4 matches. Also he was not so economical with the ball. Lacking the power to hit in the death overs which is opposite to his nature of gameplay. 

Usama Mir played in the last match against Australia in place of Shadab Khan. he was highly expensive with his spell as he took 1 wicket by giving away 82 runs in 9 overs. Also he dropped an easy catch of David Warner, which copsted them the match as Warner scored a brilliant 163 runs against them.  

Shaheen Afridi was out of this line and length but against Australia in the last match he got 5 wickets and bounced back too fast. Till now he has got 9 wickets and looking to use the same magic again. Haris Rauf despite getting some wickets but was highly expensive in his spells. He took 8 wickets till now in the World Cup with an economy of 7.06. He was played easily by the batsmen early on but later in the death he picked some wickets.

Hasan Ali also started the journey pretty well but with the going on he was little expensive and took 7 wickets till now. A perfect add on in place of Naseem Shah who was ruled out due to the injury. 

Predicted 11 for the Match:

Babar Azam ©, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.  

Afghanistan (AFG) Analysis:

Afghans players already made their comeback after defeating the defending champion but lost against the kiwis by a huge margin. Their batting has been pretty good but their strength which is their bowling have been average till now in the tournament.  

Tournament performance so far:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz had been consistent with the bat in the opening. He already scored a half century against England where he made 80 runs. He is a destructive batsman who can switch the gears easily. Ibrahim Zadran got a good start but eventually was unable to convert it into a big one. Got out of the 20’s three times till now. 

Rahmat Shah is one of the experienced players in the squad but he has not been in scoring mode yet. Against Kiwi he scored 36 runs but got out after playing 62 balls. He needs to step up with his batting. Hashmatullah Shahidi the skipper of the team, played well against India where he scored 80 runs except that he got out early. 

Azmatullah Omarzai also played well against India and scored 62 runs and took 3 wickets till now in the World Cup. In this tournament he was coming up a little up the order and he proved this one perfectly by making some runs in that position. Ikram Alikhil has played two matches and in one of them against England he scored 58 runs. 

Mohammad Nabi also carries huge experience but this didn’t come in his batting and bowling yet. With his batting he got out cheaply and with the bowl he performed brilliantly against England only where he got 2 wickets. Rashid Khan grabbed 6 wickets in the World Cup till now with an economy of 5.07. With the bat he contributed some destructive knocks at the end of the death overs. 

Mujeeb Ur Rehman has more experience than most of the other players in the team and due to this he took 4 wickets in the tournament till now. Against the defending champion he not only got 3 wickets but also contributed with the bat where he discord 28 runs in just 16 balls.    

Naveen-ul-Haq has not been much impressed with his bowling. Till now he has got 4 wickets. Fazalhaq Farooqi, the opening bowler from the side has been expensive in his spells and needs to be more accurate with his line and length to get more wickets. 

Predicted 11 for the Match:

Hashmatullah Shahidi ©, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi. 

Pitch Report and Weather Report:

The match will be played at M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The pitch here will be slow in the 2nd innings and tends to be more suitable for the spinners. Batsmen will find it difficult to play in during the chase. 

Weather be partly cloudy. Temperature will be around 33 degree celsius during the daytime while it will drop down to 25 degree celsius. Humidity will be pretty high, must be about  more than 60 percent. 10 percent chances of rain might be possible.   

Head to head (IND vs NZ) in the World Cup:

They played only 1 match against each other in the World Cup. 

Best 11 for the match:

Mohammad Rizwan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Babar Azam, Ibrahim Zadran, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Nabi, Shadab Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Shaheen Afridi.