Afghanistan
Netherlands
Two teams who have punched above their weight, come face to face in match number 34 of the ODI Cricket World Cup. They have proved why they deserve to be participating at the global stage more often.
The match between the Netherlands and Afghanistan will be played at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, from 2:00 PM IST on November 3rd, 2023.
Netherlands defeated Bangladesh and proved that winning against South Africa wasn’t a flash in the pan. With 4 points from six games, they are at No.8 on the Points Table along with Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Afghanistan won their last game against the Lankans, and are now knocking on the doors of the ‘Top Four’ with 6 points from as many games.
We have an interesting battle on our hands, while the Top Bookmakers in India have great World Cup odds with them.
Rashid Khan has picked up 6 wickets in the three ODIs that he has played against the Dutch.
The betting tip is...
Rashid Khan to take more than 1 wicket
75 %
25 %
AfghanistanNetherlandsAfghanistan have been growing in confidence with each passing game. They have moved on from being over reliant on the likes of Rashid Khan and have instead come up with complete team performances this World Cup.
Shahidi & Co. would be tempted to get Noor Ahmed back in the Playing 11 for this game, however, it’ll be interesting to see who makes way for him as Fazalhaq Farooqi, his replacement in the last game, picked up his career-best figures of 4/34 against Sri Lanka at Pune.
The Afghans will rely on their spinners to spin a web around the Dutch batsmen.
Predicted Lineup: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmed, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
With the team putting up a complete all-round performance against Bangladesh, the Dutch might want to go ahead with the same playing 11 unless Van der Merwe has recovered from his illness and is fit enough to play.
Except Shariz Ahmed, all the bowlers came to the party against the Sri Lankans and convincingly managed to defend a modest score of 229.
They would want their batsmen to put up a solid front in this game as the wicket at Lucknow is known to assist bowlers, and Afghanistan have some very good spinners in Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
We don't expect any changes in the playing 11 on the Dutch side.
Predicted Lineup: Vikramjit Singh, Max ODowd, Wesley Barresi, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Bas de Leede, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Logan van Beek, Shariz Ahmad, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren.
Both teams will be more than eager to continue their good run at this Cricket World Cup and are sure to go all out to win this one.
A win for Netherlands will get the Men in Orange to six points and help them stay in contention for Champions Trophy qualification, while a win for Afghanistan will help them keep their hopes of making it to the semi-final alive.
We predict a win for Afghanistan as their spinners hold an advantage over the Dutch batsmen, especially when playing on a pitch like Lucknow.
