West Indies will take on Afghanistan at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur, on Sunday, 27 March, with an aim of maintaining their 100% record ahead of the semi-finals stage of the 2016 World T20 with three wins from three matches so far. Their opposition, Afghanistan, might be having the extreme opposite results, having lost all their previous three matches but the Asian minnows have put up a great showing winning plenty of hearts along the way.
The match does not hold any significance, but with two teams whom the neutral fans would love to do seeing well, taking on each other, we could be in for a good contest in the first match of Sunday’s doubleheader. Here is everything you need to know about this match from Group 1.
West Indies vs Afghanistan 2016 Live streaming details
TV Channel: Star Sports 1, HD1 (English) and 3, HD3 (Hindi)
Online Stream: www.starsports.com, Hotstar app
Date: 27 March 2016, Sunday
Time: 03:00 pm IST, 09:30 am GMT
Venue: Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
Team News
West Indies
The Darren Sammy-led side has enthralled the Indian fans with their free-spirited performances and they have enhanced their reputation as T20 big guns with victories over their biggest rivals in Group 1 – England, Sri Lanka and South Africa. While they had to sweat it out against the latter, they were convincing winners against the other two and will start as overwhelming favorites against Afghanistan.
The T20 specialists in the side have stood up and made themselves accountable for their performances with both bat and ball, best exemplified by Chris Gayle’s all-round heroics. They have a well-settled unit with plenty of match-winners in the squad who can win matches single-handedly for their side.
Senior statesmen like Gayle and Marlon Samuels, as well as the youngsters like Johnson Charles and Carlos Brathwaite, have done their bit and will be hoping to carry forward their fine form into the latter stages of the tournament as well.
Afghanistan
The Asian minnows have been terrific so far, giving the major ICC nations more than a small scare. There have been plenty of moments where it looked like Afghanistan could stage a big upset, most significantly against England, but a lack of experience at the big stage has been clearly evident in their approach.
Things will only get better though as they play more and more against better opposition and with the talismanic Mohammad Nabi still very much their leader, they do have a bright future. The skipper Asghar Stanikzai will undoubtedly be delighted at how well his side has fared in the competition, earning plenty of plaudits along the way, but he will be hoping to sign off on a winning note.
West Indies vs Afghanistan Predicted XI
West Indies XI
Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Sammy (c), Jason Holder, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn.
Afghanistan XI
Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor Ali Zadran, Asghar Stanikzai (c), Shafiqullah, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Amir Hamza, Shapoor Zadran
Recent form
West Indies : L-W-W-W-W
Afghanistan : W-W-L-L-L
Pitch preview
West Indies defeated South Africa at the very same venue a few days back to seal their spot in the semi-finals and once again, the ball is expected to grip and turn with another low-scoring contest in the offering. The batsmen will be well advised to take their time and play on the surface according to the merit of the ball.
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