Afghanistan will face the Netherlands in a must-win encounter to be played at Ekana Stadium, Lucknow on 3rd November 2023. It promises to be an exciting match as both teams are coming off with a win in their previous matches against their respective opponents.
Netherlands stunned Bangladesh by 87 runs at Eden Gardens, Kolkata while Afghanistan stunned Sri Lanka by 7 wickets to stay in contention for a semi-finals spot.
Both teams have quality players who would provide entertainment and make sure that they help their country win matches with their abilities.
Here we look at the 5 Players To Watch Out For:
- Ibrahim Zadran
After the loss of a wicket in the first over against Sri Lanka, Ibrahim Zadran looked in decent touch putting the bad deliveries away for boundaries keeping the momentum going for Afghanistan.
He showed intent against the pace bowlers and did not allow them to settle. Zadran impressed with his batting keeping the pressure on Sri Lankan bowling. It will be important for Ibrahim to lay a strong foundation for Afghanistan to post or chase down the target.
Zadran will play a key role along with Gurbaz to put pressure on the Netherlands bowling and help Afghanistan register victory.
- Scott Edwards
Scott Edwards came to the crease when Netherlands wickets at regular intervals. After the reprieve, Netherlands captain Edwards showed intent to keep the strike rotating and hit boundaries that helped the Dutch to recover from a tough situation.
He looked in decent touch playing the spinners and pacers well on a tough Kolkata pitch. Scott Edwards would be hoping for another good performance with the bat against top-quality Afghanistan bowling.
His ability to keep the strike rotating and not allow the bowlers to settle makes him a decent batter. He would be looking to replicate his form against Afghanistan and help the Netherlands register their 3rd victory of the tournament.
- Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Mujeeb Ur Rahman had a good spell in the previous match against Sri Lanka. He bowled with great control in the first 10 overs not allowing them to score runs freely.
The spinner was introduced into the attack in middle overs getting two big wickets of Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samawickrama putting breaks on Sri Lankan scoring. He ended with figures of 2 for 38 in 10 overs.
It was a good spell by Mujeeb Ur Rahman and made sure that Sri Lanka did not score big runs. With the condition in Lucknow likely to help the spinners, he would play a key role in picking early wickets and keeping the scoring under check.
- Paul Van Meekeren
The tall right-handed pace bowler Paul Van Meekeren produced a magical spell against Bangladesh at Kolkata. He got rid of Najmul Hasan Shanto, Bangladesh captain Shakib AL Hasan, and Mushfiqur Rahim and ended with the wicket of Taskin Ahmed.
He ended with figures of 4 for 23 in 7.2 overs and helped Netherlands register a thumping 87-run victory. Van Meekeren would be hoping for another special performance in the match against Afghanistan picking wickets that would allow Netherlands to put pressure on batting.
- Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan had a decent bowling effort against Sri Lanka. He was introduced late into the attack by Shahidi but did not allow them to score runs easily. Rashid bowled a beauty to dismiss Dhanajaya de Silva.
His bowling looked a little wayward before keeping the pressure on the Lankan batting lineup. He would be key for Afghanistan to pick wickets in the middle overs and ensure that Afghanistan creates pressure on the Netherlands batting lineup.
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