The second match of the opening Saturday of the Cricket World Cup sees the lowest ranked side in the competition in Afghanistan taking on the defending champions Australia in the opening match for both sides and the County Ground at Bristol.
This day-night encounter carries no shortage of intrigue and has the potential to be a really good game of cricket if both teams perform to the best of their abilities. There are some exciting players on show which will hopefully make for a good day of cricket.
AllSportsBetting Podcast
As always, Kev and Steve return with the latest ASB podcast concentrating on this match in particular. Here them preview here by clicking on the link below.
Afghanistan
This is the second tournament Afghanistan have made it into and they are a much different and better side to the one which performed in the last World Cup in 2015. They have an exciting batting line up with two openers who should be feared by every team in this tournament, and a bowling attack that can make any side look stupid if they are not treated with the respect they deserve.
Afghanistan have a chance of being extremely competitive but they are going to have to box smart here. They need to identify that it is going to be pointless swinging from the hip against certain bowlers and going down the Pakistan route when they played West Indies on Friday. If they do play clever cricket they will put the pressure on Australia and will see if they crack.
Australia
While this is the match Australia will have wanted to get their eye in for this tournament, in many ways it could be the worst match for them as well. I say that because they are on a hiding to nothing. They are not going to be liked in England anyway and if they slip up against Afghanistan they will remain unpopular but be a laughing stock at the same time. If they win this match they won’t get much credit as they are expected to win.
Australia need to treat Afghanistan with respect. We’ve seen in events in the past, not least not far from here in 2005 when they slipped up in an ODI against Bangladesh in Cardiff, that the overconfidence or arrogance Australia sportsmen carry can haunt them. If they do treat them with respect they have more than enough in their side to get the job done here but from a neutral point of view it would be interesting to see how they cope with a little bit of pressure.
Team News
Afghanistan had issues over their opening pair Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai for this first match but it appears that both men are going to be fine. Hamid Hassan will look to get stuck into the Australians early.
Australia have had a fitness concern over Dave Warner heading into this opening match. Given that Justin Langer once again appealed for him to be left alone by the crowds, it appears he will be fit to play. Usman Khawaja is also said to be fine.
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Betting
After the disaster of the Pakistan-West Indies match betting wise I’m going to ease down a touch and assess all the sides before I go heavy again but two bets do stand out to me here. The first is the performance of Mohammad Nabi, almost the unsung class act of this Afghanistan side. He is what I call a 3-D cricketer. He is a very good batsman in the middle order, where he should avoid the likes of Starc, Cummins et al, and he is a decent enough spin bowler, here against a side who don’t face spin too well. He’ll field in key positions as well so when you add his scoring potential up he should be able to cover 38.5pts. In the two warm up matches he scored 64pts and 94pts. He can make it to 39 here.
If Australia win this match, as I think many will expect them to, then I would imagine one of their fast bowlers is going to have a day out and at 14/1 to be man of the match I’ll take the chance that it is Pat Cummins. I’ve mentioned elsewhere that Cummins arrives to this tournament in excellent form and if he keeps that going the pace and bounce he will generate here should have the Afghanistan batsmen in a few problems. There is plenty of mileage in the 14/1 on Cummins being named the player of the match.
Tips
Back M.Nabi’s Performance – Over 38.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with 888sport
Back him here:
Back P.Cummins Man of the Match for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with Betway
Back him here:
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