🏏 Cricket WC 2023: Match #39: Aus vs Afg:🏏Link #Thread 2:P 152

One team is an established World Cup contender who has won it five times, and the other team is comparatively a new entrant with great talent. Will novices benefit from the experience, or will serious competitors be met with an unexpected outcome?

🏏 Cricket World Cup 2023: Match #39: Australia vs Afghanistan:🏏

Australia can seal a place in the semi-finals if they manage to beat Afghanistan at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium today.

Australia are placed third on the tournament points table with 10 points, and reaching 12 points would make it impossible for fourth-placed New Zealand to catch up to them.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, could take a major step towards breaking into the top four in what has been a stellar campaign thus far for them in the World Cup.

Afghanistan are on eight points in seven matches and placed sixth, but a victory would put them forth with a two-point lead over New Zealand, with both sides having just one more game left to play.

While Afghanistan have been known as a competitive T20 side, they established their status as a formidable ODI side as well in this tournament.

The Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side beat defending champions England and then went on to beat Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands thus far in the tournament.

Australia will be boosted by the return of Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell, Marsh had missed out on their previous match against England after having to fly home to Perth for personal reasons.

He bowled for around 30 minutes and had a short bat in his first training session since arriving back in India.

Maxwell had missed out on that match after a freak concussion he suffered in a mishap at a golf course. He also trained in the nets in Mumbai.

There is uncertainty around vice-captain Steve Smith.

The 35-year-old told reporters on Monday that he seems to be suffering a recurrence of vertigo, an issue he has had to deal with a number of times in the last few years.

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Head-to-head in ODIs

Out of the three matches that the two teams have played against each other in the ODI format, two have come in World Cups. Australia first played Afghanistan in a one-off ODI in the UAE in August 2012 back when the latter were far from being a Full Member of the ICC. Despite their inexperience, they came within 66 runs of beating Australia. Australia lead the overall head to head 3-0.

Australia vs Afghanistan: Head-to-head in World Cups

Australia first played Afghanistan in a World Cup in 2015 at Perth. The Michael Clarke-led side won that match by 275 runs and would later go on to win the tournament. They then beat Afghanistan by seven wickets in Bristol in the 2019 World Cup.

Australia vs Afghanistan form guide (Last five matches, most recent first)

Australia: W-W-W-W-W

Afghanistan: W-W-W-L-W

Australia vs Afghanistan Playing 11 | Predicted XIs

Australia Probable XI: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith/Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

Afghanistan Probable XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad.

Did you know?

David Warner is 45 runs away from becoming just the third batter in the history of international cricket to cross 18000 across all formats of as an opener. Sanath Jayasuriya and Chris Gayle are the only others have reached that milestone.

With seats filling up fast for World Cup semifinals, Australia will look to banish middle-order woes and secure a final four spots against a fearless Afghanistan at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Only two places remain up for grabs, with rampant India slated to finish atop the World Cup points table. South Africa have also qualified.

With no other team directly threatening Australia's progression into the semifinals, Pat Cummins' men would like to finish the job at the first given opportunity here at the Wankhede Stadium a venue that has been a paradise for batting but also supports the bowlers adequately if they are good enough to exploit the conditions.

The battle promises to be an enticing watch given Afghanistan's battery of spinners and resolute batting itching to deliver a strong show against Australia, for whom leg-spinner Adam Zampa's 19 wickets in seven matches are the most for any bowler in this World Cup.

Sachin Tendulkar addressed the Afghanistan team huddle in Mumbai.

The Afghanistan players posed for photos with the batting great at the Wankhede

Afghanistan face 5-time champions Australia in a crunch clash on Tuesday

The Afghanistan cricket team had a special guest at their team huddle on the eve of their World Cup 2023 match against 5-time champions Australia. Legendary Sachin Tendulkar gave the spirited Afghanistan side a special pep talk ahead of their big battle against the Pat Cummins-led side.

Sachin Tendulkar was spotted at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where Afghanistan will face Australia in a crunch clash that will decide the fate of Hashmatullah Shahidi's side who are well and truly in the race for the semi-finals after an impressive campaign in India so far.

Notably, Afghanistan captain Hasmatullah Shahidi scampered across the ground to join the team huddle after finishing his press conference. Hashmatullah dashed toward his teammates when he realized that Sachin Tendulkar had already begun addressing the huddle, according to journalist Bharat Sundaresan.

In a memorable moment for the Afghanistan players, the entire team posed with Sachin Tendulkar. Former India batter Ajay Jadeja, who joined the Afghanistan side as a consultant for the World Cup, was also seen posing for the photo with a wide smile on his face. Notably, Tendulkar and Jadeja were former teammates for the senior national team.

Afghanistan have been impressive in World Cup 2023, having beaten former champions Sri Lanka, England and Pakistan. After having entered the World Cup in India with just one previous victory, Afghanistan have won 4 out of their first 7 matches, keeping themselves in the semi-finals race. They have stitched a 3-match winning run, beating the Netherlands in their previous game.

The battle between Australia and Afghanistan has another layer of context, as it's being built up as a 'grudge match'. Earlier in March, Australia canceled an ODI series against Afghanistan in the UAE due to the Taliban's announcement regarding further restrictions on women and girls' education and employment. Following consultation with several stakeholders including the Australian Government, Cricket Australia withdrew from a 3-match series.

pitch report

Wankhede favours both pacers and spinners. Bowlers who can swing the ball in the early phases can be successful. Spinners are more effective as the match progresses. Batters can score heavily if they show patience.

It's still hot and humid in Mumbai and the pitch has the reddish tinge that it always does at the Wankhede. But while the pitches used for training did seem to have a lot of turn in them, the surfaces used for the matches so far have been very much in favour of the batters..

weather

In Mumbai, the temperature will go as high as 35 degrees when the match starts. It will cool down to 29 degrees during the late evening. The humidity will be low at 44%. There is little chance of rain, as per Weather.com.

Australia vs Afghanistan prediction

As per Google’s win probability, there is an 84% chance that Australia will beat Afghanistan in this match.

Team Watch

Australia

Just when you thought, Australia will finally have access to their best XI, Smith's vertigo issue could well through a spanner in the works, even though it'll be a case you'd think of how he feels on the morning of the match before any call gets taken. Glenn Maxwell had two hits in the nets for a change and was seen being involved in a lengthy fielding session. Mitchell Marsh has returned to India as well after the unfortunate passing of his grandfather.

Tactics & Strategy:

Like they have in their last few games, Australia look at their best when they are batting first and posting big scores. And that'll be the focus here too, despite the spin threat that Afghanistan do possess. The movement on offer under lights will play a big role too even if Adam Zampa has been their star bowler throughout the tournament.