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Match Details
Date: October 29, 2021
Time: 3:30 PM IST
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium
Live Ball-by-ball Commentary: SportsTiger App
Preview: With an aim to take a step closer to the 2021 T20 World Cup semi-final spot, Pakistan face Afghanistan on Friday. Pakistan must be high on confidence going into this game as they are have registered two wins out of the two games they have played so far. The fact that the Men in Green registered wins over quality teams like India and New Zealand would be enough for Afghanistan to understand that they need to punch above their weight in case they want to hand an upsetting result to the upcoming opponents.
Head to Head in T20Is:
Pitch Report: Out of the four matches played at the ground, teams batting second have won the game. Therefore, it is a no-brainer that the team winning the toss would opt to bowl first as the second innings is more likely to see the arrival of dew and hence chasing would get easier.
Team Analysis:
Afghanistan: Even though they registered a comprehensive win over Scotland in the first game, Afghanistan must be aware of the uphill task they will be having to do in the upcoming game against Pakistan. Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan, who shared 9 wickets among themselves in the previous match, will have a lot of responsibilities on their head. Meanwhile, expectations would also be high from the Afghan openers Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad, who are quite famous for the brisk start they provide to the team. In the middle-order, skipper Mohammad Nabi alongside in-form Najibullah Zadran would be the players who need to contribute heavily with the bat.
Pakistan: They look like a complete team especially after the performance of their lower middle-order in the previous game against New Zealand. The form of Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali would definitely be pleasing for them. On the other hand, the performance of Haris Rauf in the previous game is just another threat for Pakistan's opponents as Shaheen Shah Afridi continues to deliver from one end. If anything that could be troubling them would be the form of Hasan Ali as the pacer conceded at 11 runs per over in the first game and remained wicketless in the second game conceding at an economy of 8.7
Squads
Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Asghar Afghan, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Fareed Ahmad, Usman Ghani, Hamid Hassan
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, Haider Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfaraz Ahmed
Conclusion: Given the form of players and the potential, Pakistan are the favourites to win this game. In case, Afghanistan want to hand a shock defeat to Pakistan, their match-winners need to step up together and play their best game.
Match Prediction:
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