The first match of the Super Six Stage will be played between the two pre-tournament favorites: West Indies and Afghanistan. Both of them, however, took wildly different paths to get to this stage. The West Indies have dominated the tournament so and is the only team to have won all four its group matches. Afghanistan has had a horror campaign and needed to depend on a Nepal victory against Hong Kong to be able to scrape through with one win.
Match Preview
Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s dreams to make it to the ICC World Cup 2019 are still alive. They could, however, be extinguished by the end of this match. The format of the tournament is such that teams carry their points with them into the Super Six Stage. Afghanistan will pretty much need to win all three of its remaining matches to have a chance to qualify.
Their first task will be their toughest as they start against the West Indies. We actually think that Afghanistan likes to be the underdog in matches and will prefer playing without being expected to win. If Afghanistan has to win this match then it has to do everything better than it has been so far.
The Afghanistan batsmen have been very poor so far. They have given away a position of strength and been unusually subdued. They need to play their natural game and put the opposition under pressure.
Players like Mohammad Nabi, Rehmat Shah, and Najibullah Zadran need to take responsibility and lead from the front. Nabi has shown the best form among all the Afghani batsmen so far and is the one that we would back to score the most runs.
Afghanistan also needs to find a way to unlock its bowling potential. Rashid Khan was the one player who was expected to dominate this competition. He is the number one ranked bowler in the world and has had tremendous success around the world.
Captaincy, though, seems to have put an additional burden on him. Additional input from the coaches and some guidance from the senior players is going to be very crucial for Rashid Khan. Mujeeb Ur Rahman has been excellent and picked early wickets consistently as well. With Shapoor Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, and Shafrauddin Ashraf also bowling well in the last match, Afghanistan can hope to put the West Indian batting under pressure.
West Indies
The men from the Caribbean have come into this tournament with a point to prove. They currently seem to be in a place where they are not as good as the top teams around the world but definitely better than the lower ranked ODI nations in this tournament.
West Indies knows that playing Afghanistan can be tricky. The Afghani spinners can be difficult for the West Indian batsmen to negotiate. If West Indies has to chase down a significant target then it will be the toughest test they will have been put to so far.
There are a lot of things going for the West Indies, though. Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmeyer, Evin Lewis, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, and Jason Holder have all scored big runs in the tournament. Shai Hope is perhaps the only two leading batsman that is looking for a significant score.
Against Afghanistan, Marlon Samuels and Shai Hope will be key since they face spin better than some of the others.
The West Indies must take this match as an opportunity to make a statement and march into the World Cup. The Windies do not have the strongest bowling lineup but it still should be enough to put pressure on most of their opponents. Kemar Roach is going to lead the attack for the West Indies and attempt to rip out the Afghani top-order.
Jason Holder, Kesrick Williams, Craig Braithwaite, and Ashley Nurse are all good bowlers but they are not going to worry the Afghans too much. The West Indies must back their batting to be the dominant factor in this contest.
Pitch and Conditions
Intermittent rain and some thunderstorms have been forecast for match day. Weather has been a concern throughout this tournament and we don’t think that is going to change. We should be able to get hopefully to get enough time to play out a full match. The team winning the toss is likely to bat second and have a better chance of using DLS calculations in their favor.
Our Prediction
West Indies and Afghanistan shared an ODI series 1-1 played in West Indies last year. On current form, though, we think that the West Indies should be able to get past Afghanistan. The match could be very closely contested, though.
Back the West Indies to win.
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