November 4 will be only the second day of ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the Adelaide Oval. Coming on the back of a double-header yesterday, Adelaide will be hosting two more matches tomorrow. The first New Zealand-Ireland T20I will be followed by an Australia-Afghanistan T20I at night.
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There is no going into a safe house around the fact that hosts and defending champions Australia haven’t played according to their potential in this World Cup. Had they done the same, the Aussies wouldn’t be in desperate need of a massive victory in their last Super 12 match.
Currently at the third position on the points table with a very poor NRR (Net Run Rate) under their belt, an ordinary victory won’t serve the purpose for Australia with respect to semi-final qualification especially if both New Zealand or England win their last respective Super 12 match. Hence, Aaron Finch and his men have no option than to register an archetype thumping victory on Friday amid several injury scares.
Afghanistan, meanwhile, have been officially knocked out of the tournament. Only team without a Super 12 victory thus far, Afghanistan would be looking to bid adieu to Australia after defeating them for the first time in international cricket.
Australia vs Afghanistan T20 head to head records
It is worth mentioning that this match will witness Australia and Afghanistan facing each other for the first time in a T20I. Therefore, there aren’t any head-to-head records for this particular contest.
Readers must note that all the previous three Australia-Afghanistan matches have come in the ODI format. Victorious on each of these occasions, Australia would want to replicate their ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 performance against Afghanistan. Having defeated Afghanistan by a massive 275-run margin (second-biggest ODI victory ever) in Perth back in the day, such kind of an effort will drastically aid Australia’s NRR.
Speaking particularly about this venue, Australia have won two and lost three out of their five Adelaide T20Is in the past. Afghanistan, on the other hand, will be playing their first-ever Adelaide T20I in less than 24 hours from now.
