The third and final match in the T20 World Cup on Thursday takes us back to Trinidad for a massive Group C clash where Afghanistan will look to secure their spot in the next stage when they go up against Papua New Guinea.
This will be the penultimate match for Papua New Guinea but they know that they won’t be making it through to the super eights but an Afghanistan win here will send them through with a match to spare which would be something in a tough group.
Afghanistan
I had a feeling that Afghanistan were going to be more than just a dark horse at this tournament. I put them up as potential winners before a ball was bowled and they certainly haven’t disappointed me in any way. They have played two matches and won them both incredibly emphatically to set up what looks to be a soft chance to book their spot in the super eights, which would not only give them a chance to push to win the tournament but would guarantee a return in two years from now which gives them something to plan ahead for.
Afghanistan opened up with a comfortable win over Uganda as would have been expected but the way they demolished New Zealand was very appealing indeed. You can level at them that New Zealand were rusty and needed the run but that isn’t anything to do with Afghanistan. You can only beat what is in front of you and they did it ruthlessly. They look to be bowling very well. If there is a concern it is that their openers have gone so well that their middle order hasn’t really had much time in the middle but a win here would give them the chance to get time in the middle for those who need it in their last group game.
Papua New Guinea
It has been a weird campaign for Papua New Guinea so far. I think most would have expected them to be beaten by West Indies in their opening game but they actually put up a competitive fight in that one. They would then have been expected to get the better of Uganda in the second outing but came up short and that will have disappointed them. That loss has put them out of the tournament realistically given the run rate situations but they will be determined to show that they are better than that display before they depart the Caribbean.
Papua New Guinea have bowled pretty well in this tournament, which probably isn’t a huge surprise with a largely spin led attack in conditions where the ball has held up throughout, but they haven’t really flourished with the bat. It will be interesting to see if now that they are effectively out of the running for qualifying whether they can free up with the bat and have a good go here. If they can and can put up a competitive score then they might find a route into the middle order of the Afghans which hasn’t had much cricket.
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Team News
Mujeeb Ur Rahman missed the last game with a hand injury which Rashid Khan said at the toss he didn’t know how long it would keep him out for. He is likely to come back for Noor Ahmad if he has recovered but it might be that he is saved for later in the tournament.
The vibes are that Papua New Guinea are going to put out the same XI that lost to Uganda last time out but ask their batters to deliver a much better performance than they did in that game. Kiplin Doriga could go up the order though.
Betting
You would have to say that Papua New Guinea haven’t been helped out at all by the schedule here. The one thing they do have going for them is that they played a couple of warm up matches here ahead of the tournament so they will know the conditions but playing this Afghanistan attack on a pitch which was used the night before isn’t going to be fun and I expect them to be found out with the bat once again here. The question is how to play that scenario.
No player has scored more than 18 against this Afghanistan attack in the tournament so far so that immediately makes me think that the highest PNG score line at 38.5 is a touch on the high side. The other thing that leans me in that direction is that the highest score a PNG player made in those warm up games was 29 and they were against Oman and Namibia not an attack as good as this Afghanistan one is. I’ll play the under on that line.
Tips
Back Papua New Guinea Highest Individual Score – Under 38.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
