Last Update on: October 31st, 2021 at 09:30 am
The 27th match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 sees Namibia take on Afghanistan at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday. After winning their first game of the Super 12 stage by a big margin of 130 runs against Scotland, Afghanistan suffered a 5-wicket defeat at the hands of Pakistan on Friday.
For the second consecutive time, Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first. However, they couldn’t replicate a similar start they got against Scotland. They, in fact, lost their first four wickets for just 36 runs. By the end of 13 overs, they lost 6 wickets for 76 runs. However, M Nabi (35 off 32) and Gulbadin (35 off 25) led a great recovery in the death overs to take the team to 147 runs at the end of the first innings.
Afghanistan made a good start with the ball, thanks to, once again, an impressive spell from Mujeeb Ur Rahman. He bowled all four overs on the trot and gave away just 14 runs, including the wicket of M Rizwan. M Nabi kept it tight after the powerplay, however, the seamers allow the likes of Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman to score runs a bit freely.
Pakistan lost only one wicket inside first 10 overs. But just when it looked like the game was getting out of the hands for Afghanistan, M Nabi sent Fakhar Zaman (30 off 25) back to the pavilion in the 13th over. Rashid Khan was brought into the attack after the halfway stage of the game.
He bowled an exceptional spell of bowling and kept the hopes alive for Afghanistan. Khan accounted for the wickets of M Hafeez and then Babar Azam in the 17th over to create panic in Pakistan’s dressing room.
The equation eventually came down to 24 runs needed in the last two overs. Asif Ali took everyone by surprise as he struck four sixes in the penultimate over to help his register third consecutive win. Afghanistan have now won and lost one match each. Ahead of their next game, they would look to get back to winning ways.
On the other hand, Namibia are coming off a morale-boosting 4-wicket win over Scotland in their first Super-12 encounter. Left-seamer, Ruben Trumpelmann gave the team a dream start as he picked three wickets in the very first over of the innings to leave Scotland in all sorts of trouble at 2 for 3.
Wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter but late contributions from Leask and Greaves helped Scotland reach 109 runs at the end of the first innings. Trumpelmann finished his figures with 3 for 17 runs in 4 overs, while Jan Frylinck picked 2 for 10 in 4 overs.
Namibia too lost wickets at short intervals in pursuit of the target but eventually chased down the score in 19.1 overs. JJ Smits played a major role in the chase, scoring an unbeaten 32-run knock off 23 balls. Ahead of their next game against Afghanistan, Namibia would look to extend their dream run in the tournament.
AFG vs NAM: Weather Forecast And Pitch Report of Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi- ICC T20 World Cup 2021, Match 27
Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi will play host to the 27th match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 on Sunday. The pitch has ample assistance for the spinners. The likes of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, M Nabi and Rashid Khan are going to love bowling here. Afghanistan, unarguably, are going to have an upper hand in the game.
Having said that, its’ a lovely track for the batsmen to play their shots and one can expect the team posting 160-170-run total. Ideally, both teams should look to chase upon winning the toss but Afghanistan could continue with the same template of batting first.
| Average 1st Inns scores | 143 |
| Average 2nd Inns scores | 122 |
The temperature here will be hot and humid. The conditions here should suggest that there is no possibility of rain. One could expect a good game of cricket. The average temperature will hover around 42-degree Celsius.