World Cup 2019, Match 4, Australia vs Afghanistan: Why Australia will win the match

Australia will kick off their 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup campaign against the winners of the 2018 ICC World Cup Qualifiers, Afghanistan. Though the Afghan team has improved over the years, they will find it tough to give Australia a run for their money today.

The last time these two teams met at the ICC World Cup was way back in 2015. Australia completely decimated Afghanistan that night. They registered their highest ever score in World Cup history thanks to vital contributions from David Warner and Steve Smith.

Mitchell Johnson and co. then took care of the Afghanistan batsmen as Australia won the match by a huge margin. The same two teams will lock horns today at Bristol with the captains of both the teams making their captaincy debut at the World Cup.

Aaron Finch would not have thought much about what do at the toss because they have a very strong side as compared to Afghanistan. In case the Aussies bat first, they have the likes of David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh who can play a big inning and tilt the game in their side's favor.

If Australia gets a chance to bowl first, the trio of Mitchell Starc, Jason Behrendorff, and Nathan Lyon will ensure that the Afghan team does not cross the 200-runs mark. Afghanistan's international stars, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi will have to play out of their skins to give Afghanistan a chance today.

Perhaps, Zazai will have to play a knock like the one he did against Ireland a few months ago. However, given the quality bowling attack that Australia has, it will be really difficult for the Afghan team to even give them a scare.

Australia should get off to a winning start in the 2019 World Cup.

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