The second part of the double header of action on the opening day of the T20 World Cup sees Afghanistan taking on Scotland in a match which has plenty riding on it for the Asian side.
Having messed up qualifying for the Asia Cup when they lost to the UAE and with their defeat to Nepal in this tournament two years ago still haunting them there is a lot of pressure on Afghanistan to get the job done here.
Scotland are back in this tournament for the first time since 2009 and while that will be a factor which inspires them they will know they’ve never beaten Afghanistan in the 20 over format and if they are going to qualify from this group you would think that is going to have to change here.
Afghanistan have recalled Hamid Hassan and Shapoor Zadran to their squad for this tournament and it could be that both feature in this match. Amir Hamza could be preferred to one of them if the wicket is likely to turn. Given that two matches are played on the same pitch you would think it will begin to turn.
Scotland are set to have Matthew Cross up the order while Mark Watt looks to have secured a spot in the side with his figures in the warm up win over the Netherlands. That means the final bowling spot looks to be between Rob Taylor or Michael Leask. Taylor’s ability to bowl at the death might sway that call in his favour.
These two nations have met on five occasions and Afghanistan have won all five but what will give the Scots encouragement is that Afghanistan have this habit of messing up big matches out of the blue so if Scotland can get stuck in early there could be something for them in this game.
I’m not going to bet on the outcome of the game although maybe a small lay of Afghanistan might be the way to play it but I’m taking two other bets in the match which come in the side markets.
The first is the performance of Mohammad Shahzad. The target is 32pts and that looks within reach for the keeper-batsman who will open the batting here. Shahzad seems to love it against Scotland. In the five matches he has played against them he has a low score of 30 and averages 49.60 with the bat including 75 in their last meeting.
He has covered this performance target on all five occasions and you’ve got to think he’s going to be in the game with the bat and the ball here. A mixture of both can get him to 32 but his record says he is likely to get there with the bat so I’ll go over on that line.
The second bet comes in the Scotland total fours market where the line looks very low at 11.5. Scotland play an aggressive brand of cricket these days and actually have a really solid line up for an associate side.
We’re not going to see many sixes on this ground but if you find the gaps the outfield will be lightning fast so you will get full reward for your shots. A top six of Kyle Coetzer, Calum MacLeod. Matthew Cross, Matt Machan, Richie Berrington and Preston Mommsen is really strong and I expect a dozen boundaries out of them.
WON – Back M.Shahzad’s Performance Pts – 32&Over for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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WON – Back Scotland Over 11.5 fours for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Paddy Power
Back them here:
