Pakistan is set to face Afghanistan in its third match in the ongoing T20 Cricket World Cup today evening. Both the teams are fresh from spectacular wins with Pakistan beating both India and New Zealand to climb up the top spot in the group.
Afghanistan on the other hand have shown resilience and some powerful hitting ability as they crushed Scotland earlier this week.
While Pakistan will certainly enter as the favourites to this match, this is one Afghan player that they should certainly keep an eye on.
It is Hazratullah Zazai who put bowlers in the PSL to the sword, with 212 runs at a strike rate of 185.96 in only five innings.
These performances came in the run-shy UAE, against many of the bowlers who he will come up against on Friday. A 35-ball 56 in a warm-up against West Indies was followed up by 44 off 30 in a thumping win over Scotland.
Teams
Afghanistan are expected to keep the same XI.
Afghanistan (probable): 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 3 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 4 Najibullah Zadran, 5 Mohammad Nabi (capt), 6 Asghar Afghan 7, Gulbadin Naib, 8 Karim Jannat, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Mujeeb Ur Rahman
If Imad Wasim recovers from the blow to the knee he sustained while batting against New Zealand, Pakistan should be unchanged too.
Pakistan: (probable): 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Asif Ali, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi
Stats and trivia
These two sides have only ever played one T20I against each other – in December 2013. Pakistan won with one ball to spare.
Tim Southee dismissed Babar Azam for his 100th T20I wicket earlier this week. Rashid Khan now has the chance to make his 100th T20I scalp a Pakistani too; the legspinner is on 99.
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