Afghanistan will take on Bangladesh in an important Super Eight game of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at Kingstown in St Vincent. The game will be played at 6 am IST on Tuesday morning, held late on Monday night local time.
If not for a surprise win against Australia, the upcoming game against Bangladesh would have been a dead rubber for Afghanistan. A historic 21-run win, their first ever against Australia in international cricket, has kept them alive in the competition.
Afghanistan had already created history earlier, advancing to the Super Eight for the first time in the T20 World Cup, after defeating New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Uganda in the first round.
They currently have two points with a game to go and are tied with Australia on points. If the Aussies lose to India, a win for Afghanistan against Bangladesh will take them through to the top four. If Australia wins, they will need to defeat Bangladesh by a big margin and overtake their Net Run Rate.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, advanced as the second-best team from Group D in the first round. They finished with six points from four games, with their only loss coming against South Africa by four runs.
They are almost out of the ongoing tournament and will need a massive win against Afghanistan while hoping for India to defeat Australia by a mammoth margin as well if they want to qualify.
What has happened so far?
Afghanistan has been the surprise performer in the T20 World Cup, making the most of the slow and low conditions to win four of six games in the competition thus far. They had started the event with a massive 125-run win against Uganda before getting over the line against the 2021 T20 World Cup finalists New Zealand by 84 runs. Afghanistan then went on to defeat Papua New Guinea and ended as the second-best team in the group despite a defeat to the West Indies.
A 47-run defeat against India in the Super Eight put the Afghans in a black box but they pulled themselves back up with an unexpected victory against Afghanistan to keep their hopes of making the semi-final alive.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, has had an inconsistent T20 World Cup, despite ending the first round as the second-best team in their group. They lost to South Africa by four runs but have looked far from their best since, losing to Australia and India in the Super Eight by 28 and 50 runs, respectively.
Head to Head Record
There’s very little separating the two teams in T20Is as far as the head-to-head goes. Afghanistan and Bangladesh have played 11 T20Is against each other, with the former winning six games. Bangladesh, however, won the last series against Afghanistan, beating them 2-0 at home last year.
Afghanistan, though, will have the advantage for the upcoming clash, having adapted better than Bangladesh while playing on the slow surfaces.
Key Players
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Afghanistan): The opener has been the in-form player, making 238 runs at an average of 39.66. What has stood out for Gurbaz this World Cup has been how he has played according to the conditions, playing attacking or cautious cricket accordingly.
He gave Afghanistan a blistering start of 80 in 56 balls against New Zealand earlier in the tournament but held the fort against Australia on a slower wicket in St Vincent, making 60 in 49 balls where run-scoring was tougher. His knock proved to be the game-changer in the end.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib is Bangladesh’s leading wicket-taker in the 2024 T20 World Cup
Tanzim Hasan Sakib (Bangladesh): Tanzim Hasan Sakib has taken 11 wickets in the World Cup at an average of 10.27 and an economy rate of 5.65.
The pacer’s variations in pace troubled the India batters on Saturday, dismissing the best batters in the team, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. He also picked up 3-18 against South Africa, suggesting how he has excelled against the bigger teams.
Predicted XIs
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Nangeyalia Kharote, Rashid Khan ©, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto ©, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman
Prediction
Afghanistan has a well-rounded team on paper, starting with a dangerous set of openers, who have been giving them consistent starts. Their middle order has risen to the occasion in several instances as well.
Bangladesh, in contrast, have been guilty of playing a conservative brand of cricket, with only one batter having a strike rate over 110 in this event. Bangladesh’s strength is their bowling, with a good mix of pace and spinners in the team, but the batting is where the game could be won and lost.