Asian clash to be formality for Afghanistan, must-win for Bangladesh

Two nail-biting performances but no wins — Afghanistan’s debut World Cup performance was a let-down for the team! But, not for others. In two matches out of the six they played so far — those against Sri Lanka in Cardiff and India in Southampton — they had put themselves in a winning position.

With defeats in all their six matches, Afghanistan is all set to face Bangladesh at the Hampshire Bowl on Monday (June 24) at 3 PM (IST).

The Mashrafe Mortaza-led team lost to New Zealand, England and Australia but won against West Indies and South Africa. If they win their remaining three games, they might be through to the semis.

Also read: World Cup: India shatter Afghanistan’s semi-final dream, remain unbeaten

Earlier, the two teams have played in UAE on pitches that were dominated by spinners and Afghanistan was focused on putting up the same show against India. Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman stole the show with 30 overs of their spell.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, is expected to play up Shakib Al Hasan to their rescue.
The pitch at Hampshire Bowl has been slow and is expected to be full of challenges for the batsmen. It will favour the spinners and the game is not expected to be a high-scoring one.
Unfortunately, it is expected to rain in the afternoon.

Bangladesh Possible XI: Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Mahmadullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Rubel Hossain/Mohammad Saifuddin, Mushrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman

Afghanistan Possible XI: Hazratullah Zazai, Gulbadin Naib, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Ikram Alikhil, Aftab Alam, Mujeeb Ur Rahman