New Zealand and Afghanistan out to prove semis credentials; Pakistan look to extend winning run

Mohammad Abdullah, Senior Sports Reporter
 
New Zealand will look to book a berth in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup with a victory over Afghanistan in their last Super 12 match on Sunday.

India, New Zealand and Afghanistan all are in contention for a remaining semi-final berth after Pakistan punched their ticket with four wins in as many games.

New Zealand have procured six points with three wins from four games and a victory against Afghanistan will assure them of a last four spot without having to wait to for what happens with India.

In case, should Afghanistan beat Kiwis, they will also have six points in their kitty and both the teams will wait for India-Namibia match, which will be held on Monday.

An Afghanistan victory will keep the race wide open and take the fight for a semi-final down to the wire as the semi-finalist will be decided on net run rate.

But New Zealand will look to avoid the jitters of going through the tricky run-rate deciding factor and seal a berth with an outright victory.

New Zealand have a very strong squad and they have come quite close to lifting the elusive trophy many times but could never realise their dreams of laying down their hands on the silverware in any format of the game.

They were defeated by England in the final of the 50-over World Cup in 2019 via more boundary-hitting rule after the games was forced into Super Over, when the match ended in a tie.

But a resolute New Zealand will not want to leave anything to chance and keep their destiny in their hands. They have a very string deep batting.

Openers Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell are capable of giving a blazing start to the team with a big opening partnership.

And captain Kane Williamson, Glenn Philips and Devon Conway makes the middle order formidable while James Neesham can play big shots in the end to propel the score further.

Philips played a 21-ball 39 cameo against Namibia while Guptill missed out on the second century of the tournament, smashing a 56-ball 93. They can tear apart any bowling attack on a given day.

In bowling, pacers Tim Southee and Trent Boult can rip through even the best batting line-up of the world while Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner can turn the ball around to finish the job.

Players of Pakistan attend a practice session. Courtesy: Twitter

Sodhi broke the backbone of Indian batting line-up with two wickets in quick succession after Boult had set the tone.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan will also fancy their chances of making it to the maiden semi-final at the showpiece event. They also have four points and a very healthy run rate.

If they can beat New Zealand with a big margin, they have a very good chance of causing an upset and move to the semis. They defeated Namibia and Scotland comprehensively and gave a tough fight to Pakistan before being routed by India.

Their batting suits this format of the game as they have hard-hitting batsmen, who like to deal in boundaries.

Hazratullah Zazai can be very destructive as he has already proved his mettle by hitting six sixes in an over during an Afghanistan Premier Leage match.

But Afghanistan’s main strength is their spin. The spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb ur Rahman.

Mujeeb and Rashid shared nine wickets between them and bowled out Scotland for 60 runs.

Mujeeb’s absence was felt in Afghanistan rout of India. Because without the support of Mujeeb, Rashid failed to bowl to his full potential as the onus of stopping run and breaking partnerships both fell on his shoulder.

So if the spinners can play role and batsmen chip in with useful contributions, it will not be a big surprise if Afghanistan can pull off an upset victory.

In the other match of the day, group leaders, Pakistan will look to fine tune their skills against a beleaguered Scotland.

Pakistan have already booked their berth  to semis with four straight wins while Scotland have lost all their games so far and will be playing to take some positives from the tournament.

Leaders Pakistan will look to take the winning momentum into the knockout stage. They may give rest to some of the frontline players and test the bench strength.