🏏ICC T20 WC 2024, Match 5: Afghanistan vs Uganda @ Guyana 🏏

Match Discussion

SoniRita thumbnail

India

Posted: 5 months ago
#1

๐ŸICC T20 WC 2024, Match 5: Afghanistan vs Uganda @ Guyana on 04/06/2024 @ 6 am IST ๐Ÿ

Venue Providence Stadium, Guyana

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Afghanistan will kick off their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against Uganda in an eagerly anticipated match at the Providence Stadium in Guyana Monday.

Afghanistanโ€™s ace bowler Rashid Khan will continue to lead the team, bringing his extensive experience and leadership skills to the forefront. Rashidโ€™s prowess with the ball and strategic acumen are expected to be key factors in Afghanistanโ€™s quest for success in the tournament. His leadership will be crucial in navigating the challenges posed by the diverse competition.

On the other hand, Uganda will be captained by Brian Masaba, who will look to inspire his team to make a strong statement in their T20 World Cup debut. Masabaโ€™s role as a skipper is pivotal as Uganda will aim to establish itself on the global stage and demonstrate their capabilities against more seasoned opponents.

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SoniRita thumbnail

India

Posted: 5 months ago
#2

One team on the rise and another already, if not at the summit of the game, at least comfortably ensconced at base camp, Uganda and Afghanistan will meet for the first time in an official T20I in Guyana to mark the former's World Cup debut.

South America was the scene of their last official match too, though the pair have never played a full status international. Uganda were one of the few teams to get the better of the Afghans during their meteoric rise through the divisions of the World Cricket League. The pair's first and to date last meeting in ICC competition at the 2009 WCL Division 3 at the ground of the St. Albans Club in Buenos Aires, where a then 28 year-old Frank Nsubuga hit a counter-attacking 62 off 44 down the order to set up a 14-run win for Uganda's cricket Cranes. The 43 year-old offspinner Nsubuga and other elder statesmen of this tournament, Aghanistan's Mohammad Nabi, are the only members of their respective squads that featured in that match.

Both teams would qualify from there for the subsequent World Cup Qualifier, but while Afghanistan' s onward trajectory tracked ever upward, Uganda slipped back into the Associate pack and would not earn a place at a pinnacle event for another decade and a half. This will be their first competitive encounter in the T20 format, having been drawn in opposite groups at the 2012 and 2013 T20 Global Qualifiers, though they played a warm-up against one another at the latter, which Afghanistan won comfortably.

A similar result is the consensus expectation for their Group C encounter, with conditions likely to play to the Afghans' slow-bowling strengths. A spin unit that boasts global stars in Rashid, Nabi and Mujeeb has seen the Afghans tipped as dark-horse semi-finalists this time round, despite a batting line-up which, Ramanullah Gurbaz aside, has been in indifferent form.

While Uganda arrive at the tournament in the habit of winning, having played 35 T20Is in the past year and won all but five of them. All 35 of those were played closer to home however, and Uganda's record outside of Africa is less impressive. Coming up against a full member for only the second time in their history (the first being the win over Zimbabwe that won them their place here) at a venue which will be as familiar to much of the Afghan side as it is new to Uganda is a tough assignment first up for the Cricket Cranes.

SoniRita thumbnail

India

Posted: 5 months ago
#3

What to expect: Traditionally one of the most spin-friendly venues in the West Indies, albeit often offering some assistance for seam early. The PNG seamers especially had West Indies on the back foot against a swinging new ball. An average first innings score of 128 tells you there's something there for everyone except new batters, even if there's shots to be made once you're in. Tuesday may see some scattered showers around too, but the worst of the weather isn't expected to hit till later in the week.

Head to Head in T20Is: 0-0

SoniRita thumbnail

India

Posted: 5 months ago
#4

Team Watch:

Afghanistan

Only recently assembled with several members on franchise duty, Afghanistan have some open questions around the batting order especially. Notable was the long-serving Gulbadin Naib up the order again and opening the batting to great effect against Scotland in their one completed warm up. We may just see him walk out with Gurbaz to start the innings.

Arguably the strongest spin attack in the competition going up against a debutant in what are likely to be spin-friendly conditions, Afghanistan will be heavy favourites if they simply execute adequately , so perhaps won't be over-thinking things. They do however have the option of deploying Noor Ahmad's left arm wrist spin, given Uganda's two form bats in Ssesazi and Ramjani are both left handers who have limited experience of top-level wrist spin turning away.

Probable XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Gulbadin Naib, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Ishaq, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad

SoniRita thumbnail

India

Posted: 5 months ago
#5

Uganda

Uganda too have been experimenting with openers in the warm-ups, promoting Ronak Patel to open with Robinson Obuya or Simon Ssesazi. They'll likely revert to the better tested combo of Ssesazi and Roger Mukasa, though it seems they're not settled on their best line -up yet. It may well be more spin-heavy than usual given the conditions.

Moreover while Afghanistan's bowling unit has plenty of CPL experience, the batters are relative newcomers to the Caribbean. Spin is their strength but also something of a batting weakness, even Gurbaz, their most in-form bat is at his least threatening against left arm spin. Uganda will likely play two left arm spinners in Alpesh Ramjani and Henry Ssenyondo, while the miserly offie Nsubuga may just feature too. If they can restrain or remove Gurbaz early, the rest of the batters might go into their shells. But it will take extraordinary discipline from the Ugandan attack to stay on top of a long Afghan batting order.

Probable XI: Simon Ssesazi, Roger Mukasa, Robinson Obuya, Alpesh Ramjani, Riazat Ali Shah, Dinesh Nakrani, Brian Masaba (c), Fred Achelam (wk), Frank Nsubuga, Henry Ssenyondo, Cosmas Kyewuta

SoniRita thumbnail

India

Posted: 5 months ago
#6

In the spotlight - Azmatullah Omarzai and Alpesh Ramjani

Azmatullah Omarzai was among the top-performing allrounders at the ODI World Cup last year. His 353 runs and seven wickets were comparable to the numbers of Rachin Ravindra and Maxwell among those who scored at least 300 runs and took five wickets. Omarzai doesn't have great numbers in T20s yet, but Afghanistan see the 24-year-old as one for the future, as did Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024. He will bat in the middle order, and his swing bowling might come in handy in the powerplay too.

Allrounders are Uganda's strength, and Alpesh Ramjani is the leader of that pack with his 469 runs and 65 wickets since 2023. Ramjani bats in the middle order and bowls left-arm spin. A product of Mumbai's famed cricket structure, he played with the likes of Shivam Dube, and considers Suryakumar Yadav as a mentor. Ramjani moved to Uganda in 2021 at the advice of current team-mate Dinesh Nakrani, and made his international debut in 2022.

SoniRita thumbnail

India

Posted: 5 months ago
#7

Pitch and conditions

In the last 12 months, teams have had to score 190-plus on average to win games at the Guyana National Stadium. The surface is slow traditionally. There's a bit of rain forecast for the evening.

SoniRita thumbnail

India

Posted: 5 months ago
#8

Stats that matter

- Among Full Members, Ibrahim and Gurbaz are T20Is' second-most prolific pair since the end of the 2022 T20 World Cup for any pair to have batted at least ten times. They have scored 503 runs at an average of 41.91 in this period, with a hundred and three fifty stands.

- Ramjani (55) and Ssenyondo (49) were the top-two wicket-takers in T20Is in 2023.

- Mukasa was the second-highest T20I run-scorer in 2023 was the second-highest T20I run-scorer in 2023 with 738 runs, five ahead of Suryakumar, who had 733 runs.

-Nabi is Afghanistan's only surviving member from the 2010 edition of the T20 World Cup.

-Frank Nsubuga, at 43, is the oldest player in the tournament.

SoniRita thumbnail

India

Posted: 5 months ago
#9

What they said:

"Absolutely huge game for us, our first game at a World Cup, first ever for Uganda in our history so we are very excited to get going. Obviously there's a bit of nerves but we've got to keep focused on the game, try and get the result that we need because we need to kick off the tournament in the right way with the good results. So, we're very focused on that but also very excited to get going... the whole country is super proud of what this team has achieved and they're looking forward to seeing us going out there and representing the country with pride. It's a huge responsibility for us, it's not just about the cricket anymore, but we carry a whole country's hopes on our backs." - Uganda captain Brian Masaba.

SoniRita thumbnail

India

Posted: 5 months ago
#10

โ€œNow we're just about focusing on one game at a time and making sure we do the right things and take the right decisions at the right time. That's something I think is going to help us. And don't think about the next round a lot. That's something which is an extra pressure I feel like to be as a player. And It's more about focusing on one game at a time, and we give 100% all the preparation we have done, the hard work we have done. We believe that. And we're making sure we back up our skills... we have those skills and talent, but it's all about making sure you take the right decision at the right time. And that's where it's going to take you to the winning side. So, we are all ready and looking forward to the competition - starts tomorrow for us." - Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan.

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