Afghanistan vs Australia Preview: Pitch Report, Weather Report, Toss Prediction, Team Changes for Cricket World Cup 2019 Match 4

Afghanistan vs Australia Preview: TSR presents Team changes,Toss prediction and Weather report for Match 4 of Cricket World Cup 2019

The exotic World Cup flavour has immersed within the system of the fans as the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 has made its arrival. To add on to the ever increasing excitement, we present before you the preview of yet another pair exciting teams of the World Cup.

ALSO READ: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Preview

While one team has the knack of bringing the best out of their players before the quadrennial tournament, the other has had a fairy tail journey right from scratch courtesy their immense self-belief and talent to squeeze amongst the Top 10 teams in World Cricket.

The aforementioned teams will clash on Day 4 of the tournament at the County Ground in Bristol on Saturday.

Form Guide

The Aussies have peaked in at the right moment. They had won only 2 of the 13 ODIs they played in the year 2018. People had almost written them off in the limited-overs format. But, come 2019, come the year of the World Cup, the defending World Champions have had a revival. So much so that the selectors are now scratching their heads to select the best amongst the best!

They have won, in 2019, two back to back ODI series against India and Pakistan, and that too away from Home. Moreover, they won both their Warm-up matches ahead of the main tournament against the Hosts England and the other one being Sri Lanka.

Their top order batsmen viz. Aaron Finch, David Warner, Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja are in prime form, so much so that there’s now a selection dilemma as to who to pick amongst the aforementioned and at which number to play them. Their two spinners- Nathan Lyon and Adam Zampa, are one of the best pair of spinners in the entire tournament.

Their pacers- Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendroff and Kane Richardson form an amazing quartet of fast bowlers, with an amazing blend of experience and youth.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, comparatively are at a disadvantage both in terms of experience and skill level, but the Cricketing fraternity has seen their rise as a unit, and their mettle over the years. They have not locked horns against the Top teams in World Cricket ever in a bilateral series. This fact might even go in their favour.

The testament to what they are capable of was proven against Pakistan in their first Warm-up match, where they defeated them by 3 wickets. Their two openers are hard hitters of the Cricket ball, who can take any team by their surprise. We had seen a demo when one of them- Hazratullah Zazai, had smashed the Pakistani pacer- Shaheen Afridi for 5 fours in a single over. The batsmen who follow them are experienced enough to play at the highest level as well.

One of the prime reasons of Afghanistan’s rise in International Cricket has been because of their spin bowlers- Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb-ur-Rehman. Rashid is currently regarded as one of the best T20 bowlers in World Cricket. Both Nabi and Rashid were in prime form during the recently concluded IPL.

Afghanistan vs Australia Team Changes

Afghanistan

In their previous two-match ODI series against Ireland (which ended in a stalemate), it was Noor Ali Zadran who had opened alongside Mohammad Shehzad. The former be replaced by Hazratullah Zazai.

In the middle-order, the experienced Samiullah Shenwari would give a tough fight to the left-hander Najibullah Zadran who was exceptional with his 38 ball 60 in the last ODI against Ireland. However, there’s a world lot of difference between Ireland and Australia.

The pace bowling department might witness a change as well. Aftab Alam looked quite ordinary in the two warm-up games he played. He might make way for the experienced Hamid Hassan, who before playing an ODI on May 10, last played for Afghanistan in 2016.

Australia

While the selectors have made it clear that David Warner will open alongside skipper Aaron Finch, it will be a tough call for them, as to who to pick between Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh at no.3. On the basis of off-late records, the selectors should persist with the latter at no.3, as we witnessed in their last ODI against Pakistan in UAE.

With Peter Handscomb not picked in the 15-men squad, former captain will make way for him. While Steve Smith will bat at no.4, it will either be Glenn Maxwell or Marcus Stoinis who will bat at no.5 for them.

In the fast bowling department, pacer Kane Richardson might make way for Mitchell Starc. Nathan Coulter Nile/ Jason Behrendorff and Pat Cummins could be the two pacers alongside Starc.

Afghanistan vs Australia- Pitch and Weather Condition

With plenty of cloud cover tomorrow at the Bristol County Ground, the temperature will be around 24 degrees Celsius. With forecast of only 10% precipitation, rain might only act as a deterrent for a short while.

In the previous Warm-up match featuring New Zealand and West Indies at this venue, West Indies amassed a mountain of 421 in their 50 overs. Thus, it’s a no brainer that it will be a run-fest for the batsman. But, with plenty of cloud cover expected, the faster bowlers might well be licking their lips tomorrow.

Toss prediction

Though most of the grounds in England are high-scoring ones, the teams are tempted to field first once they win the toss, as the wicket gets better to bat on as the innings progresses. The Bristol pitch story is no different. Hence, the team that wins the toss is expected to bowl first.

Where would the match telecast?

The clash between the two sides will be broadcast live on the Star Sports network and Hotstar, and will commence from 06:00 IST.