🏏ICC T20I WC 2024: Match 40: AFG vs WI St Lucia@6:00 AM IST🏏

🏏ICC T20I WC 2024: Match 40: Afghanistan vs West Indies at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia on 18/6/24 at 6:00 AM IST🏏

In the three games each team has played so far, a similar pattern has emerged as both have secured two victories while batting first and one while chasing. However, Afghanistan triumphed with greater conviction when setting targets for their opponents. Consequently, they have attained a superior net run rate compared to the two-time champions, positioning them at the top of the Group C table despite accruing the same number of wins as the West Indies.

With both teams slotted in different Super Eight groups filled with fierce competitors, the impending match is poised to be a platform where a certain level of experimentation could be performed with respect to player combinations.

The sole encounter they have played against each other at the mega-event was the famous low-scoring thriller which the Afghans cliched by six runs at the Super 10 of the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Pitch Report and Conditions

The pitches in Gros Islet have been notably more favourable for batting compared to most other venues in this edition of the T20 World Cup, with teams scoring 180 or more in three out of the four innings. At this location, teams typically prefer to bowl first after winning the toss.

In 14 T20 matches since the beginning of 2022, only twice have teams opted to bat first. However, the outcomes have been varied: teams batting first and those bowling first have each won six times, with two matches being washed out. Although there's no threat of rain on Tuesday, it's expected to be somewhat windy, as it was during the last two matches here.

Runs once again. 180 has been chased and the 200-mark has been breached in two games so far. Both sides with batting adventurism will look forward to getting out there and swing for the fences

Team Watch

West Indies

The hosts should keep the same side that has earned them three wins in three.

Tactics & Matchups: Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie could be West Indies' weapons against the high-flying Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The Afghanistan opener has trouble putting away left-arm spinners, scoring at only 101.63 against them in 17 T20I innings since 2021. He has also been dismissed five times by them. If Gurbaz steers clear of Hosein in the PowerPlay, he will then go face-to-face with Motie through the middle-overs.

Probable XI: Brandon King, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran(w), Roston Chase, Rovman Powell(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie

Afghanistan

No reason for Afghanistan to tinker with their winning combination.

Tactics & Matchups: A feisty contest awaits us when Johnson Charles squares off against the two wrist spinners - Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed. Against their ilk, the West Indies opener has scored at strike rates of 166.07 in 10 innings but has also been dismissed six times by them in T20Is since 2021. Shimron Hetmyer has struggled against wrist spinners too, scoring 115 runs off 142 balls at a strike rate of 80.99.

Probable XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan(c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Did you know:

- Johnson Charles is the highest run getter at this venue in T20s, with 939 runs in 31 innings at a strike rate of 135.10

- Fazalhaq Farooqi has been the standout bowler in this tournament, conceding runs at 4.25, 1.50 and 3.75 in the PowerPlay, middle-overs and the death respectively. He is the leading wicket-taker with 12 scalps.

- Akeal Hosein has 5 PowerPlay wickets in 48 deliveries, and has conceded at only 4 runs an over in this phase

Probable Best Performers of the match

Probable Best Batter: Nicholas Pooran

Following an impressive IPL 2024 season, the wicketkeeper-batter made a strong initial impact in the warm-up match against Australia, scoring a commanding 75-run knock. However, he has struggled to convert his starts into substantial scores since then, managing just 66 runs across his group-stage fixtures. He would be eager to seize the initiative and post a substantial innings in the upcoming match.

Probable Best Bowler: Rashid Khan

Maintaining an average economy rate of 4.50 throughout the three league matches, the Afghan skipper has displayed his trademark miserliness and precision in line and length. Eager for another stellar performance, he would be aiming to synergize effectively with the other Afghan spinners.

Form guide

West Indies WWWWW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)

Afghanistan WWWWW

In the spotlight - Rovman Powell and Rashid Khan

Among those in the current squad, only Nicholas Pooran (1914) and Brandon King (1365) have more T20I runs for West Indies than Rovman Powell (1351). Pooran (487) and King (621) also are the top scorers for them in T20Is since January 2023 with Powell (461) at third. But Powell's strike rate of 163.47 is far superior to that of the other two, which highlights his destructive powers. However, he is yet to fire in this World Cup - 39 runs in three matches at a strike rate of 105.40. A decent hit ahead of the Super Eight will bode well for the co-hosts.

Rashid Khan has six wickets in this World Cup, and all of them have come in the middle overs. In his T20I career, he has only nine wickets in eight matches against West Indies. They are one of only four teams against whom Rashid averages in the 20s. But against a line-up dominated by right-hand batters, Rashid should be licking his lips to have a perfect outing.

Stats that matter

• Since the start of 2023, West Indies' run rate of 11.94 in the death overs (17-20) is the highest among all participating teams in this World Cup.
• Afghanistan have been the most frugal spin-bowling team at this World Cup with an economy rate of 4.88. West Indies are next-best at 5.04.
• Rahmanullah Gurbaz has a strike rate of 148.48 (49 runs off 33 balls, one dismissal) against left-arm spin at this World Cup. With West Indies having Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie in their line-up, it will be an interesting match-up.

Big picture - Battle of two unbeaten teams

With a line-up packed with power-hitters from top to bottom, West Indies have always been the prototype of a perfect T20 batting side, and it's no different at T20 World Cup 2024. Add the incisive fast bowlers and effective spinners and they look like the team to beat.

The balance of the Rovman-Powell-led team resembles the ones they had during their title-winning runs in 2012 and 2016. Samuel Badree gave them successful starts with the ball with his legspin then, a role Akeal Hosein has assumed this time with his left-arm orthodox. It may not be a mere coincidence that Daren Sammy, who captained West Indies to the title in those two editions, is at the helm as head coach now.

With all Super Eight spots decided, West Indies' clash against Afghanistan has little significance. But try telling that to the players that. "Momentum" and "pride" were the keywords in the pre-match press conference that Powell and Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott addressed.

Afghanistan will have tough competition in the Super Eight round, having been clubbed alongside India, Australia and Bangladesh, and will want to carry positive vibes into it. Having enjoyed an unbeaten run thus far, neither team will want to trip up heading into the business end of the competition.

What they said:

"It's been a big opportunity for the guys to play World Cup cricket in their home countries. We started in Guyana with Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd, Shamar Joseph, and Gudakesh Motie, playing in front of their home crowd. And then we went to Trinidad with Akeal Hosein and Nicholas Pooran. Now it's time for Johnson Charles to put on a show for his fellow St. Lucians." - West Indies captain Rovman Powell

"I said to them [the players], one day if you look back, and you were a youngster and I said you were going to play against the West Indies in St. Lucia in a World Cup, you would have bitten someone's hand off for that opportunity. So don't let this opportunity pass you by just because there's nothing on the line with regards to qualification. [There's] Pride playing for your country." - Afghanistan head coach Jonathan 

More Preview

The burden of being a West Indies team in a white-ball World Cup at home is not lost on Rovman Powell, the incumbent captain. They after all play their next game at a stadium named after Daren Sammy, where the stakes are lowered but momentum is still fiercely sought. After the ignominy of not qualifying for the 50-over event in India last year, West Indies are playing with the pressure of needing to 'bring back the glory days', which Sammy last did in 2012 and 2016. That too, is not lost on Powell.

Afghanistan don't carry any baggage from the past, but there's an unmentioned responsibility to make a successful team out of their globe-trotting T20 stars. To add title credence to their golden generation of Rashids and Noors and Gurbazs. With three wins in three, West Indies and Afghanistan are blemish-free in the group stage but Tuesday perhaps represents their first big test of the tournament. Both teams expectedly went past the lower-ranked PNG and Uganda, while also taking two points off an undercooked New Zealand side. The face-off on Tuesday has nothing weighing on it with regards to progression but both West Indies and Afghanistan have already denied letting thoughts of it being a dead-rubber permeate in the dressing rooms. For as far as they're concerned, this is another important hoop to jump through before the competitiveness in the tournament is taken up a notch.