Afghanistan VS Australia in Cricket World Cup
MUMBAI, India –
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and opted to bat against Australia in its Cricket World Cup match on Tuesday.
Both sides are in contention for the two remaining semifinal spots, with host’s India and South Africa already assured their place in the knockout stages.
Australia are third in the standings with 10 points from seven games. The five-time champions need one win to confirm its last-four spot from its remaining games against Afghanistan and Bangladesh on Nov. 11.
Afghanistan is sixth in the table with four wins from seven games. Its eight points have come from stunning wins over England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Netherlands. It needs to win both its remaining games against Australia and South Africa on Nov. 10 to be assured a place in the semifinals.
One win from its remaining two matches may also be enough for Afghanistan to make the semifinals, but it would require other results to go its way to make up for its net run-rate deficit.
For Australia, Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell are back in the playing eleven. Marsh returned from Australia to re-join the squad this past week after travelling home for personal reasons. Maxwell missed Australia’s win over England by 33 runs in Ahmedabad owing to a concussion from a golfing incident.
Steve Smith is sitting out this game owing to a serious bout of vertigo. Allrounder Marcus Stoinis retains his spot from the previous game, with Cameron Green missing out.
Afghanistan has made one change with pacer Naveen ul Haq coming in as a like-for-like replacement for Fazalhaq Farooqi.
The pitch at the Wankhede Stadium should be batter friendly with spin playing a factor as the game wears on. Humidity and evening wind in Mumbai can assist pacers under lights as well.
Lineups:
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad.
Australia: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
