The stakes are getting higher in the Cricket World Cup as we begin to enter the home straight in the group stage of the tournament and that is very much the case for Bangladesh on Monday when they take on Afghanistan in Southampton.
Afghanistan are officially out of semi-final contention but they go into this match off the back of giving India a right scare on Saturday. Bangladesh have to win their last three matches to keep any hopes of progressing realistic so this is a knockout match for them in all but name.
Bangladesh
This Bangladesh side have been an absolute joy to watch in this tournament and there will be many neutrals hoping that they can go as far as possible given the entertainment that they bring with them. There is a fluent freedom around them with the bat and while their bowling can go round the park against the better sides there is a vibrant freshness to them in the field that makes you want them to do well.
What we shouldn’t forget of course is that they carry a good deal of quality in their ranks too. Shakib has shown how good he is throughout the tournament but there is plenty more besides. This is a banana skin match so they will need their better players to make sure that they stand up and be counted and don’t leave the responsibility to others else they could come unstuck, as India almost found out.
Afghanistan
There has been a discernible improvement in Afghanistan in recent times and that has come from the confidence they have gained with the bat. Just something as simple as batting out their overs against England seems to have given them the belief that they can compete at this level. They now need to take that belief and turn it into a victory and if they can do that their future will be very bright.
The other thing which will give them confidence going into this match is their last outing was here and the pitch suits them down to the ground. There is no Jasprit Bumrah to wreck them here either so if Afghanistan produce the same performance as they gave against India, they are entitled to be very competitive in this match indeed.
Team News
Bangladesh are said to have a concern over the fitness of Mehidy Hasan for this match as he was hit on the head in the nets in practice prior to the match. Mosaddek Hossein has recovered from the injury which kept him out of the last match but once again there will be no Mohammad Saifuddin.
Afghanistan have no need to change anything from their last match against India although it could be that they give the gloves to someone else and play another batsman just for the extra batting depth.
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Betting
I’ll go with three bets in this match and the first of them is under 46.5 fours. Usually when matches are at the same venue within 48hrs of each other the same pitch is used and the one here on Saturday was tricky to bat on and was offering a good deal of turn so I’m not expecting this to be too easy for the batsmen. A match including a gun India only had 30 fours here on Saturday so I don’t really see how we’re going to get half as many again. Afghanistan might play with more freedom against a side they know but Bangladesh will send down the better part of 30 overs of spin. This line looks way too high to me.
One line that looks a little on the low side is the performance of Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib. I took this bet against India the other day and he covered his line with the ball but had he not have done so then he was only two shy with the bat as he totalled 67pts for the contest That followed up a total of 107pts against England in the previous match. His line here is 32.5 and he covered that against Australia in the opening match so that is half the games he has gone over in. I like the over here.
Mohammad Nabi top scored with a really good 50 for Afghanistan on Saturday and I like the 7/1 that he does it again here. He is a good batsman who should really be utilised much higher than he has been, especially in these conditions which he knows well from his time at Leicestershire last season. Afghanistan are batting much better at the minute and Nabi is a reason for that. He looks a bit large at 7/1 off the back of a really good innings last time out.
Tips
WON – Back Under 46.5 fours for a 5/10 stake at 1.75 with 888sport
Back it here:
WON – Back G.Naib’s Performance – Over 32.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
Back M.Nabi Top Afghanistan Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 8.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
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