There is another double header of action in the T20 World Cup on Sunday with the opening match of the two being huge for South Africa and Afghanistan as they meet each other in Mumbai.
Both sides suffered hefty defeats in their first game of the T20 World Cup tournament so if they are to keep realistic qualification hopes in their own hands then this is a game that neither can afford to lose.
South Africa will be looking at their bowlers to step up to the mark here after they were ravaged by a determined England batting line up on Friday. 230 should never be chased down but in fairness to the South African bowlers they were on a ground which is impossible to defend and had to contend with the dew too.
You would think a change in the bowling attack is near enough automatic after failing to defend 229 so I’m expecting David Wiese to come in somewhere along the line. Chris Morris is the obvious man to make way given his small impact in the first game.
Afghanistan will be ruing a missed chance in their first game against Sri Lanka. They had Sri Lanka in all sorts of problems with the ball but each time Sri Lanka needed help Afghanistan provided it with a costly misfield which all added up to a narrow defeat.
I don’t think the Asian side need to change too much. They just need to tighten up the basics and maybe freshen the side up having played a lot of cricket in relatively short time. This is a big ask for them but they’ve little to lose and that is generally when we see their best cricket.
The wonderful Wankhede wicket is going to be the centre of attention again in this match. We’ve seen two high scoring belters on this ground and if Afghanistan can be competitive with the bat and keep wickets in hand we’re going to see another here. This being a day game means the dew factor won’t be in play which should make for a much fairer game of cricket.
This isn’t a game I can bet on the match result on and in fairness the handicap is huge, with good reason so I can’t really get going on that either with what is on the game. Once again I’m heading to the side markets where I’ve found one I like.
The player fours market worked well for me on Saturday and I’m heading back there again here. This time the player in question is Hashim Amla who has a 3.5 target. Given the form he is in that looks very low to me I have to say.
Amla has hit half centuries in his last three official T20 internationals, two against England and one against Australia so he is playing incredibly well in this format of the game at the minute. He just nailed seven fours on this ground in his quick fire 58 against England on Friday and with the barrage of pace he’s going to be fed early on here I’m expecting similar fireworks.
When Amla is in good touch he generally tends to go very big for a sustained period and I fancy he’ll get off to a decent start here, especially as he can be more controlled with de Kock going bonkers around him. On this deck four fours is well within reach for the great Hashim.
Back H.Amla Over 3.5 fours for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with Coral
Back it here:
