AUS vs AFG 38th Match, Super 12 Group 1 Prediction

AUS vs AFG Team Previews

Australia

Australia’s chances of getting to the Finals and attempting to defend their T20 World Cup championship from 2021 are further complicated by injuries. Hamstring tightness has affected three critical batters on the squad: Captain Aaron Finch, big-hitter Tim David, and the ever-reliable Marcus Stoinis.

The good news is that Stoinis is going to be ready for the match, but we’re still waiting on a confirmation for Finch and David. This will likely come on the night before the match on Friday.

It’s not as if Australia will be out of options if Finch or David is unavailable to play, as both Cameron Green and Steve Smith are the first choices to fill the gaps. However, losing Finch, especially, would be a major blow. He’s been a rock in the ODI and T20 squads for many years now, and his batting expertise, not to mention his captaincy skills, will be sorely missed.

Naturally, one could question whether Australia belongs in the tournament Finals at all, given that they’ve hardly played their best cricket. No Australian player is in the top 5 for any batting or bowling categories for the World Cup, and the 89-run loss to New Zealand was an embarrassment. The wins over Sri Lanka and Ireland were well earned, but a far cry from the Oz cricket side we’ve known.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment for the Aussie batters has to be none other than David Warner. This is a huge surprise, as Warner’s form heading into the tournament was top-notch and he was picked by many to be the leading run-scorer in the World Cup. However, that isn’t even close to happening, as Warner has scored 19 runs in three matches. That’s just not going to help Oz win.

Stoinis, Finch, and Mitchell Marsh have been dependable, but Australia will need more than reliability to win, they’ll need strength and determination. In terms of the bowlers, the main four of Starc, Zampa, Hazlewood, and Cummins have all taken three wickets each, but have given up far too many runs and just aren’t putting enough pressure on opposing batters.

Afghanistan

No one is really expecting Afghanistan to defeat Australia, but you know they’re still going to fight until the bitter end. The batters that will give the Aussies the most trouble are undoubtedly Usman Ghani and Ibrahim Zadran. In fact, Zadran has been performing great by scoring 118 runs so far in the tournament.

Afghanistan may have lost all their games, although each one has been pretty close. Well, except losing to India by 101 runs, but that’s to be expected when Virat Kohli scores 122, not out!

With regard to the bowlers, the toughest bowler that could challenge the Aussies is Fareed Ahmad, who has picked up three wickets for his country. While his Economy Rate is a bit eye-watering, he still manages to make life tough for batters on occasion and he gets results.

Afghanistan probably knows they don’t have much of a chance, but that could make them even more dangerous, as they’ve got nothing to lose and simply want to give the best they’ve got.