GameDay Squad Cricket Match Preview: Afghanistan come up against South Africa in the 42nd match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in Ahmedabad on the 10th of November.
Afghanistan played Australia in their eighth match of the CWC, and Australia won by 3 wickets. Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Afghanistan were off to a decent start with the bat and made it through to 38 before Gurbaz was dismissed. Zadran and Shah put on 83 runs for the second wicket before Shah was dismissed for 30. Afghanistan continued to put a few good partnerships together and made Australia work for their wickets. Zadran became the first Afghanistan player to score a century and he end up with 129 not out. Afghanistan posted a competitive total of 291 from their 50 overs. Afghanistan were off to a fantastic start with the ball and had Australia in a spot of bother before the end of the first power play with the score at 49/4. The Afghanistan bowlers continued to chip away at the Aussie batting lineup and had them 91/7 in the 19th over. Who knew at this point that we were going to see one of the best innings in CWC history. Take a bow Glenn Maxwell! Maxwell had a superb innings and scored 201 off 128 balls, single handedly taking Australia through to the target of 292 in the 47th over.
The top performers in GDS for Afghanistan were.
Ibrahim Zadran – 167 points
Rashid Khan – 120 points
Azmatullah Omarzai – 106 points
Naveen-ul-Haq – 73 points
Rahmat Shah & Noor Ahmad – 50 points
South Africa played India in their eighth match of the CWC, and India won by 243 runs. India won the toss and elected to bat first. India was off to a flying start and quickly moved through to 62 before Sharma was dismissed by Rabada. Gill was the next to go as he was dismissed by Maharaj with the score at 93 in the 11th over. With Kohli and Iyer at the crease, South Africa found it difficult to slow down the run rate as the Indian pair took the score through to 227 before Iyer was dismissed. Kohli managed to score his 49th ODI century, equaling Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most ODI centuries. India made it through to 326/5 at the end of the 50 overs. South Africa were off to a terrible start with the bat as the Indian opening bowlers had them 35/3 before the end of the first power play. Things only got worse for South Africa as they couldn’t get anything going with the bat and ended up all out in the 28th for a total of 83.
The top performers in GDS for South Africa were.
Kagiso Rabada – 74 points
Keshav Maharaj – 59 points
Marco Jansen – 55 points
Lungi Ngidi – 49 points
Tabraiz Shamsi – 35 points
Narendra Modi Stadium & Pitch Information
Pace bowlers may see some seam and swing early on, and it may be difficult for the batters to get set. There have been 29 games played at this venue with pace bowlers picking up 238 wickets and spin bowlers 129 wickets. There have been three matches at this venue so far in the CWC. Two have been won by the chasing team and the highest first innings score was 286 by Australia against England.
Afghanistan vs South Africa predicted XIs
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman/Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq and Noor Ahmad
South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi/Andile Phehlukwayo and Tabraiz Shamsi/Gerald Coetzee
Who to play in your GDS starting XI
Batters
The three batters that I am likely going to start will be Hashmatullah Shahidi, Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen. Over the CWC these batters average the following points in GDS.
Hashmatullah Shahidi – 46 points
Temba Bavuma – 29 points
Rassie van der Dussen – 60 points
In GDS there are eight players combined from Afghanistan and South Africa that have the batter position designation. Five of these eight players are predicted to play, two from Afghanistan and three from South Africa. After Zadran’s very impressive century I’m going to be fading him in this match. This is because the South African bowlers have been so good inside the first power play and have taken 19 wickets. That’s an average 2.4 wickets falling for South Africa’s opponents in the opening 10 overs of their innings. It’s a bold move excluding Zadran from my starting XI, but I believe it is the correct one. The other batsmen to miss my starting XI will be Miller. I believe playing a batsman that usually is sixth in the batting order is a risky play in a strong batting line-up. I have Shahidi, Bavuma and van der Dussen all ranked above Miller in this match as I believe they can produce a higher ceiling and I’d rather take a chance on them. Bavuma might be a surprise inclusion for a lot of you but I’m just waiting for him to fire. He is my POD for the batters as he was in the best form leading into the CWC. In the ten ODIs that he played leading into the CWC he averaged 80 points in GDS and scored three centuries in these matches.
If you don’t have the suggested players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining batters for Afghanistan and South Africa in the following order. Ibrahim Zadran and David Miller.
All-Rounders
The four all-rounders that I am likely going to start will be Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen. Over the CWC these all-rounders average the following points in GDS.
Azmatullah Omarzai – 74 points
Mohammad Nabi – 56 points
Aiden Markram – 64 points
Marco Jansen – 102 points
In GDS there are six players combined from Afghanistan and South Africa that have the all-rounder position designation. Five of these six players are predicted to play, three from Afghanistan and two from South Africa. Selecting the all-rounders for this match has been the easiest decision to make compared to the other positions. Omarzai, Nabi and Jansen all locks in my starting XI for this match and I lean towards Markram being my fourth all-rounder. I have Markram ranked above Shah and this comes down to the form of the South African opening bowlers. Like Zadran, I’m fading Shah for the same reasons.
If you don’t have the suggested players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining all-rounders for Afghanistan and South Africa in the following order. Rahmat Shah.
Bowlers
The three bowlers that I am likely going to start will be Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, and Gerald Coetzee. Over the CWC these bowlers average the following points in GDS.
Keshav Maharaj – 73 points
Kagiso Rabada – 85 points
Gerald Coetzee – 82 points
In GDS there are twelve players combined from Afghanistan and South Africa that have the bowler position designation. Eight of these twelve players are predicted to play, four from both Afghanistan and South Africa. To be honest, it really comes down to who bats first when making my bowler selections and my above selections are based on Afghanistan batting first. If Afghanistan bowl first, I’m likely going to bring in Khan or Ahmad for either Maharaj or Coetzee. All the above players have been picked based upon their form over the CWC. Maharaj and Rabada have both taken 12 wickets each and Coetzee has taken 14. All three also average over 30 dot balls a match and this provides a safe floor.
If you don’t have the suggested players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining bowlers for Afghanistan and South Africa in the following order. Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Lungi Ngidi and Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Wicket Keeper
The wicket keeper that I am likely going to start will be Quinton de Kock. Over the CWC these wicket keepers average the following points in GDS.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz – 43 points
Ikram Alikhil – 29 points
Quinton de Kock – 103 points
Heinrich Klassen – 59 points
De Kock has been the best wicket keeper option in most of his matches for the CWC. In half of his games, he’s scored a century and the other half he’s scored 24 or less. He is also the actual keeper on the field for South Africa as Klassen only has regular fielding duties. De Kock offers a higher ceiling most of the time and is an auto pick for my starting XI in this match.
If you don’t have the suggested player in your squad, I have ranked the remaining wicket keepers for Afghanistan and South Africa in the following order. Heinrich Klassen, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ikram Alikhil.