The T20 World Cup heads back to Melbourne for another double header of action on Friday and we are back in Group 1 of the Super 12 stage of the competition for what could very well be an effective knockout clash between Afghanistan and Ireland.
Both these sides have a loss on their record in this group already and know that a second one is likely to be fatal for their hopes in the competition so that should guarantee a competitive game of cricket between two nations who know each other very well.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan have one point on the board after their opening two matches but such is the nature of this group they sit just two points off top spot so they still have everything to play for. It won’t be lost on them that they have played the two teams who are in pole position to qualify from the group so in theory they have the two easier games to come, the first of which is this, and then they could have a crunch game with Australia if all goes to plan.
In order for that to happen they will know they have to win this match. To be fair, Afghanistan weren’t overwhelmed by England in their opening match but they were a little naïve with the bat. If they can bat smarter and put a more competitive score on the board then we certainly saw enough of them with the ball to suggest that they can win this match and potentially the other ones that they need to push for a semi-final spot.
Ireland
After disappointing big time in their opening match in the Super 12 stage when they were walloped by Sri Lanka, Ireland bounced back to see off England in a rain-affected match on Wednesday and they now know that if they come out on top in this encounter then they will go top of the group for a few hours and be in a good position with which to attempt to make the semi-final themselves. In order for that to happen they need to do everything right.
Ireland will hope that they are boosted by the fact that they have already played a match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This is an iconic cricket stadium which can take a fair bit of getting used to but Ireland will have been able to shake all of that off and now concentrate on the cricket. You would imagine it is imperative that they bowl well in this match because their batters might find it hard to get the Afghanistan spinners away.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for this series! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
Afghanistan were going to have an issue with opener Hazratullah Zazai had the match with New Zealand gone ahead but he is expected to have recovered in team to allow Jonathan Trott to name an unchanged team.
Ireland finally made a change to their outfit ahead of the England match and they are expected to continue with the XI which won that match, especially as George Dockrell is said to have tested negative for Covid now.
Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets over the course of this match with the first of them coming in the form of the Afghanistan most sixes. These two teams played a five-match series in Ireland in their summer and Afghanistan hit the most sixes in three of those games. One of the ones Ireland hit the most in was severely rain affected. I don’t think that is a fluke. There are much bigger hitters in this Afghanistan side than there is the Ireland one and of course there are the three spinners for Afghanistan who are hard to get away, especially on a ground of this size. Ireland don’t have that mystery to their attack and we saw against England that the Afghanistan batters are basically going to come at the bowling at all times. I think the 11/10 on Afghanistan to hit the most sixes is a good thing here.
I’ll also take a chance that Najibullah Zadran is the player of the match. It looks like this is going to be a match that is affected by the rain and if that is the case and Afghanistan end up chasing in a reduced overs scenario then Zadran might well go up the order and he could easily catch the eye. In that series earlier in the year Najibullah hit 42 off 18 balls in one of the matches and if he was to do something like that regardless of the length of the match then he would have to be in contention to be the player of the match. At 22/1 he looks a huge price in a match where the scenario could quickly see him deeply involved.
Tips
Back Afghanistan to hit the most sixes for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Sky Bet
Back N.Zadran Player of the Match for a 1/10 stake at 23.00 with Betfair
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022
