We have just the one match to enjoy in the T20 World Cup 2021 tournament on Monday and it comes from Sharjah as two of the lesser nations battle it out when Afghanistan takes on Scotland in Group 2 of the Super 12s.
With the likes of India, Pakistan and New Zealand to come in the competition later in this stage, both teams will be acutely aware that if they are going to stay relevant for long in this tournament this is a match they must win.
Afghanistan
While Afghanistan are an improving force in the cricketing landscape, they won’t have been the favourites to win a match at a global tournament like this one very often and it will be interesting to see how they cope with that expectation on their shoulders. They do have players who have been involved in the two IPL seasons in this part of the world and it has been their home venue for a few series as well so they will at least be accustomed to the conditions.
We know all about the quality of the Afghanistan bowling attack. Their three world class spinners are in T20 leagues across the world regularly and in Naveen ul Haq they have a bowler who came to life in the Vitality Blast and then went to play in the Caribbean Premier League. Those bowlers should see them competitive but they will need to bat better than what we’ve seen from them in previous tournaments if they are going to back up their bowlers.
Scotland
Although nobody will come out and say it, I would imagine everything from here on in is a bonus for Scotland. Their World Cup was pretty much the first round group but having negotiated that without losing a match, and knocking Bangladesh off along the way, they will want to at least make an impression in this group. Scotland have shown plenty of spirit in this tournament already and no shortage of guts or confidence which will serve them well here.
Although the Scotland batting got better the longer the first phase went on, there are still one or two question marks over it. The concern would be that Bangladesh were running through them with their spinners in the first game and there is a case to be made that the Afghanistan spin trio will be even tougher to face with all their mystery. Scotland will need to bowl well too, especially at the death. They have gone round the park twice at the end of the innings and these better teams will punish that.
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Key Men
It is simple to say that Rashid Khan is a key man for Afghanistan here but he is. We’ve seen throughout the tournament that the lesser teams struggle to face good quality leg spin and the rankings suggest there is no better exponent of it in this format than him.
Josh Davey has led the way with the ball for Scotland so far in this tournament and his team will need him here too. If he can get stuck into the Afghanistan order at the top of the innings it might make them panic and open the game up a little.
Betting
Afghanistan look a little short to me in this match but I’m acutely aware that Scotland might struggle against the spinners, especially here in Sharjah, and that the dew could significantly impact the match as well so I don’t really want to get involved in the match outcome or any handicaps and find out Scotland are bowling with a bar of soap on a tiny ground. The player performances haven’t gone too badly for us so far though and there is one I like here too.
I’ve mentioned how I suspect Scotland could struggle against spin and there are a couple of left handers in the top four which will keep Mohammad Nabi honest. He just bowled a brilliant spell in a warm up match against West Indies but this match isn’t all about his bowling. His big hitting on a small ground could be potent as well and as captain he’ll have himself in all the key fielding positions. He genuinely has three scoring methods here and conditions which should suit him so I like him to cover 38.5pts here.
Tips
Back M.Nabi’s Performance – Over 38.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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