Match 34: NED vs AFG| Game Analysis| Pitch Report| Best 11

The 34th match of the tournament will be played between Netherlands (NED) and Afghanistan (AFG).

Current Standings:

Afghanistan (AFG) Analysis:

Afghanistan had made it clear that they will not let this World Cup be easy for any opposition. After winning back to back wins they are in contention to make their place into the Semis. They are performing brilliantly in each department. They are the underrated team in this tournament but now with their tremendous performance they made it clear.      

Tournament performance so far:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been their star performer in the team. He is scoring runs continuously from the past 2 years for his team. Till now he scored 224 runs which includes 2 half centuries and with a healthy strike rate of 99.56. Ibrahim Zadran has started well but couldn’t take that much longer except against Pakistan where he scored a brilliant 87 runs. He has 212 runs to his name and this youngster has a lot of potential to score more runs. 

Rahmat Shah, one of the most experienced players in the squad has shown his experience in the last two matches where he scored back to back two half centuries. He has the ability to score big and due to his brilliant knocks Afghans got back to back wins. Hashmatullah Shahidi  the leader of the team is leading in the runs department from his team. He made 226 runs till now with two half centuries. Last one came against Sri Lanka in a winning cause. His experience in leading the team makes him little different from other players in the squad. 

Azmatullah Omarzai is playing well in both the departments. With the bat he scored 203 with 2 half centuries which came against India and Sri Lanka and with the bowl he has 5 wickets to his name. He gave his team a proper advantage in both the departments and must be helpful in the upcoming matches. Ikram Alikhil had a little stiffness during the last match but will be available in the upcoming match. He has a fifty to his name which came against England where he scored 58 runs. 

Mohammad Nabi, one of the experienced players in the team has not performed yet for which he is known for. He is lacking with the bat and has the highest score of 9 runs in the World Cup and with the bowl he has just 3 wickets to his name. Rashid Khan, though having the most experience in the bowling department from his team, has taken 7 wickets till now. He is not showing his consistency and took wickets in pieces. He can also bat destructive in the death overs. 

Mujeeb Ur Rahman has 6 wickets to his name and 3 of them came against England for which he was getting the Player of the Match. Also in that same match he batted aggressively where he scored 28 runs in just 16 balls. Naveen-ul-Haq has performed better as he took 6 wickets till now in the tournament but his economy must be taken care more as he was mostly expensive in his spells. 

Fazalhaq Farooqi the main pacer of the team has bowled a match winning spell against Sri Lanka where he got 4 wickets and was awarded as the Player of the Match. Till now he has 6 wickets in the tournament and the team is expecting the same performance in the remaining matches. Noor Ahmed played just a single match which was against Pakistan and there he got 3 wickets and made his team in a commanding position. 

Predicted 11 for the Match:

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

Netherlands (NED) Analysis:

This Dutch might not be seen in the next round but they had played one of the best World Cup till now. They already won 2 matches, one of which came against the most destructive team in this tournament, South Africa. Although right now they are still in contention for the next round, they need to win the remaining matches with a huge margin so that their run rate will also improve.  

Tournament performance so far:

Vikramjit Singh started the tournament with a half century against Pakistan where he scored 52 runs but in the remaining matches his scores were 12, 2, 4, 25 & 3 runs. He needs to spend more time on the pitch so that he can give his team a solid start. Max O’Dowd  has been in the worst mode ever as he scored just 61 runs in 6 matches and his highest score was 18 runs which was against South Africa. He needs to be more precise with the batting length. 

Wesley Barresi  played the last match where he scored 41 runs. Again this performance is expected by the team so that he can score more runs. Colin Ackermann has been batting decently in the tournament. He started well but was unable to convert his innings into a big one. He has 153 runs to his name. His highest score was 69 runs which came against New Zealand. Also with the bowl he contributed much better as he got 5 wickets till now in the World Cup. Scott Edwards the skipper of the team has scored two 50’s and both of them came in the winning cause, one against South Africa and the other against Sri Lanka.  

Bas de Leede started pretty well in the tournament with 67 runs he scored against Pakistan, but in the later innings he was unable to score much and got out early. But with the ball he is the leading wicket taker from the side with 11 wickets in his pocket. Though he got bashed heavily by Australia where he was highly expensive in his spell. Teja Nidamanuru  has been consistently poor with the bat due to which he was seated outside in the last match.  

Sybrand Engelbrecht has been batting well in this tournament. He scored 70 runs against Sri Lanka and provided some valuable runs in the lower middle order. Logan van Beek grabbed 9 wickets till now. His best was against Australia where he took 4 wickets. His economy is under 6 and is improving day by day. Aryan Dutt is the opening bowler of the team and he got that with regular wickets. He has 8 wickets till now in the tournament and looking more in the upcoming matches. His economy is 4.96. 

Paul van Meekeren  is also bowling brilliantly with 10 wickets in his pocket. In the last match against Bangladesh he grabbed 4 wickets due to which he was awarded Player of the Match. His economy is 5.37 which is the 2nd best among the Dutch bowlers. Shariz Ahmed, the young lad from the team has less experience in the international circuit, played in the last match where he couldn’t get much overs to bowl.    

Roelof van der Merwe has a lot of experience in the international circuit which he showed in the match against South Africa where he was brilliant with the bat with 29 runs in 19 balls and also got 2 wickets by giving away only 34 runs. 

Predicted 11 for the Match:

Scott Edwards (c/wk), Vikramjit Singh, Max O’Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Wesley Barresi, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Logan van Beek, Aryan, Paul van Meekeren, Shariz Ahmed.  

Pitch Report and Weather Report:

The match will be played at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. The pitch will be having more benefit for the bowlers as compared to batters. The outfield will be slow in the later part of the innings. Spinners will get a good amount of turn in 2nd innings. Batting first must be the ideal condition for the team winning the toss. 

Weather will be sunny throughout the day. During the daytime temperature will go around 31 degree celsius while it will cool down to 18 degree celsius during evening. Humidity will be less than 50% and no chance of rain is expected.     

Head to head (NED vs AFG) in the World Cup:

It will be their first encounter against each other in the ODI World Cup.  

Best 11 for the match:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Scott Edwards, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ibrahim Zadran, Colin Ackermann, Logan van Beek, Azmatullah Omarzai, Bas de Leede, Paul van Meekeren, Rashid Khan.