ODI World Cup 2023: Afghanistan look to catch up on net run rate as the Netherlands pose a tricky challenge
By Team Newsable | First Published Nov 2, 2023, 4:54 PM ISTAfghanistan has a brighter chance to improve their net run rate against the Netherlands as it could cause hindrance in their pursuit of semi-finals ticket. Their next game after the Netherlands match will be against South Africa and Australia.
The upcoming fixture for Afghanistan could be a massive opportunity to better the net run rate and give a new dimension to its fight for the Top four place. Right now, Afghanistan is doing well to stay in the fight but its poor net run rate could cause a hurdle even if it gains valuable points in the next matches.
The Netherlands are no team to be taken lightly as they have already beaten South Africa and Bangladesh in the ODI World Cup 2023. Afghanistan will have to be aware of the quality of the Netherlands batters that could click at any time. Even their bowling lineup is no force of minions.
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But looking at the batting lineup of Afghanistan and their recent form, the South Asian side will have huge ambitions on Friday. Currently, their main obstacle in the semi-final race is their net run rate of -0.718 which is even lower than the likes of Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Afghanistan will have to go at full force against the Netherlands to improve their net run rate as their next matches after Friday will be against South Africa and Australia. The Ekana Stadium in Lucknow could pose a tacky challenge due to the slow surface. However, the likes of Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed, and Mujeeb Ur Rehman will love to bowl on the Lucknow surface.
Afghanistan's collective batting effort has clicked thanks to the likes of Hashmatullah Shahidi (226 runs), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (224), Rahmat Shah (212), and Ibrahim Zardan (212). The batters could find it hard to score runs on Friday if they bat first. Lucknow pitch is such that it favors only those who have patience.
Predicted XI
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad.
Netherlands: Vikramjit Singh, Max O'Dowd, Wesley Barresi, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Bas de Leede, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Logan van Beek, Shariz Ahmad, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren.
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