T20 World Cup: Must-win game for the cornered Afghans vs South Africa

AHMEDABAD: The defeat to New Zealand in their opening game has left Afghanistan in a precarious situation. The Rashid Khan-led side will require nothing less than a victory against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Wednesday to keep themselves in contention for a Super 8 berth from Group D.

With South Africa recording a commanding win over Canada in their opening game at the same venue, the pressure is firmly on Afghanistan.



Rashid Khan was clearly not happy with the performance of his bowlers against New Zealand and urged them to step up for Wednesday’s game. “The line and length allowed them (New Zealand) to play shots freely. On a wicket with not much help for either the seamers or the spinners, we needed to keep it tight. We didn’t do it, we didn’t hit the right areas consistently and that’s why we gave away so many runs,” said Rashid.

The Afghanistan team management will also be contemplating including left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad in the playing XI after dropping him for the first game, given that Canadian left-arm wrist spinner Ansh Patel claimed three wickets against the South Africans.

Afghanistan might also be tempted to look at their batting template of keeping it steady in the Powerplay and accelerating towards the death overs.

South Africa, meanwhile, got most things right against Canada, barring the middle overs where they lost three wickets quickly, a fact alluded to by southpaw David Miller.

“There was a little lull in the middle overs. If you lose a couple of wickets, you take one or two overs to regroup. So it was really nice to bat with (Tristan Stubbs) at the back end. We were in there for a couple of overs and I personally found it a bit tough to strike the ball. I felt just a bit out of rhythm,” admitted Miller, the man in form.


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