World Cup 2019, Match 36: Pakistan vs Afghanistan Match Prediction - Who will win today's match?
1992 World Cup winners, Pakistan, will lock horns with the Blue Tigers, Afghanistan, in the 36th match of ICC World Cup 2019.
Pakistan have a lot of momentum on their side heading into this encounter, having won their last two games. On the other hand, Afghanistan have failed to register a single victory and remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
The last time these two teams met was in a warm-up match ahead of the World Cup, with Afghanistan defeating Pakistan in a grueling encounter.
However, things could turn out differently this time around. When England and Sri Lanka played at this venue earlier in the tournament, the Lankan lions managed to pull off a monumental. The pitch offered quite some assistance to the fast bowlers, with 14 out of the 19 wickets on the day being scalped by the pacers. As a result, one can expect the quick bowlers from both teams to come to the party.
On comparing the fast bowling units of the two teams, we easily conclude that Pakistan have the superior bowling attack. Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz form the most potent fast bowling trio in this tournament. They will definitely back themselves to get the better of the struggling Afghanistan batsmen at Leeds.
Afghanistan's top order has been the reason for the team's struggles in the World Cup and they are not expected to fare too well against one of the best bowling lineups in the tournament.
Pakistan also possess a strong batting line-up which can wreak some havoc. The likes of Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq can all score big on their day and will fancy their chances against the Afghan pacers.
If Pakistan win the toss, they should look to bat first and put as many as runs as possible on the board. 250-260 should be enough for them to secure a victory.
On the other hand, if Afghanistan bat first they will need to post a total of at least 275 to make things competitive. However, the chances of that happening are very low.
Pakistan are the much stronger team on paper and should run away with the game, keeping their qualification hopes alive.
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