Australia v Afghanistan: Steve Smith v Rashid Khan will be the battle to watch out for
After comfortable wins in both their warm-up matches, Australia, the defending champions, begin as hot favorites against Afghanistan in the fourth match of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 in Bristol on Saturday. Steve Smith and David Warner will seek redemption on the biggest stage as they re-launch their one-day international careers for Australia.
The Afghanistan squad, on the other hand, won against Pakistan by three wickets in their first practice match. However, the team, led by Gulbadin Naib, was demolished by England as they lost by nine wickets at the Kennington Oval in London.
Saturday is expected to be a fine, dry and warm day, with lengthy spells of sunshine. West Indies amassed 421 against New Zealand here in their final warm-up game on Tuesday and another run-fest can be expected.
Key Battle: Steve Smith vs Rashid Khan
Australia: Steve Smith
With the return of their best batsmen to the national fold, Australia look for a successful start to the campaign. Steve Smith should bat at three given the awe-inspiring form he is in.
Steve Smith's century against the hosts, England, in their first warm-up game gave us a fair glimpse of his skills and a staggering fortitude. His abilitiy to counter spin with his sublime wrists would come in handy against the quality of Rashid and Nabi in the middle overs.
With 3431 runs at an average of 41.80 and strike rate of 86.30 from 108 ODIs, Steve Smith has eight ODI centuries and 19 fifties with 164 being his highest score.
Afghanistan: Rashid Khan
When we speak of the top spinners in international cricket today, Rashid Khan appears on top of all LOI matches lists. Currently ranked third in the ICC ODI rankings for the bowler, the leg-spinner, who is just 20 years old, has become the bowler to watch out in this World Cup. He will look to bring his experience of playing against most of the Australian batsmen in the Big Bash League into play in batting friendly conditions in Bristol.
Rashid has so far played 59 ODIs from which he has claimed 125 wickets at an economy of 3.90 and a strike rate of 23.5. Rashid already has four five-wicket hauls and an equal number of four-wicket returns, with best figures of 7/18.
With a mixed bag of tricks that have often flummoxed the best of batsmen across the world, Rashid Khan will hold the aces for Afghanistan to stem the flow of runs and pick wickets to give his team a chance to open their campaign with a win.