Afghanistan vs Australia Preview & Prediction | ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 | Group stage

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Australia are looking for a ninth consecutive win in T20 cricket and their sixth at this ICC T20 World Cup, with victory over Afghanistan guaranteeing their place in the semi-finals.

DATE TIME: Saturday, June 22, 2024: USA (WST) – 5:30 PM / USA (CST) – 7:30 PM / USA (EST) – 8:30 PM / Saint Lucia – 8:30 PM / Sunday, June 23, 2024: UK – 1:30 PM / India – 6:00 AM am / South Africa – 2:30 am / Pakistan – 5:30 am / Bangladesh – 5:30 am / Australia – 10:30 am

LOCATION: Arnos Vale playing field, Kingstown, Saint Vincent, West Indies

WEATHER: There is a small chance of rain, but it will probably remain dry and cloudy with a moderate wind and a temperature of 28 degrees

HOW TO WATCH ON TV: US – Willow TV / West Indies – ESPN Caribbean / UK – Sky Sports / South Africa – SuperSport / Pakistan – PTV Sports & TEN Sports / India – Star Sports / Bangladesh – Disney Star

HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: US – Willow TV website / West Indies – ESPN Play Caribbean app / UK – Sky Go / South Africa – SuperSport app / Pakistan – Myco and Tamasha / India – Disney+Hotstar / Bangladesh – Disney+Hotstar / Australia – Amazon Prime Video

AFGHANISTAN FORM: CONSECUTIVE defeats mean they still have work to do

After a heavy defeat against the West Indies, Afghanistan was defeated again last time, this time against India. After winning the toss, India mustered 181/8, which was probably always enough and so it proved, bowling out Afghanistan for 134, most likely leaving them needing wins over Australia and Bangladesh to progress.

FINAL FIVE: LLWWW

AUSTRALIA FORM: WIN OVER BANGLADESH THEIR EIGHTH STRAIGHT T20 TRIUMPH

Australia maintained their winning streak with an important victory over Bangladesh, their first of the ‘Super 8s’ stage, putting them in a strong position. A win over Afghanistan would take them to four points and ensure that defeat to India would not stop them from reaching the semi-finals.

FINAL FIVE: WWWWW

AFGHANISTAN BETTING ANALYSIS

Although Rashid Khan was on the losing side against India, he showed his class despite stiff opposition. The Afghanistan captain picked up three wickets, including those of Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant, to finish with figures of 4/26. Expect Rashid to feature again for his team here and back the T20i star spinner to take more than 1.5 match wickets.

Another bowler worth investing in the Afghanistan side is Fazalhaq Farooqi, whose left-arm bowling has proven extremely powerful throughout the tournament. As it stands, Farooqi is comfortably topping the charts over the course of the competition with 15 scalps. Therefore, preference should be given to backing him to collect another 2+ wickets through the ‘Bowler Milestones’ market.

AUSTRALIA BETTING ANALYSIS

After being dismissed for 31 against Bangladesh, Travis Head had extended his total runs in this ICC T20 World Cup to 179, at an average of 44.75. The Australian opener also averaged more than two sixes per innings and with this in mind, several markets are attractive when it comes to investing in Head. Back him first to score 20+ runs against Afghanistan via the ‘Batter Milestones’ market, but also consider betting on Head to reach 0.5+ maximums using the ‘Batter Total Match Sixes’ market to do this.

Pat Cummins stole the show against Afghanistan, scoring a hat-trick for Australia and finishing as their top wicket-taker in the entire match. After these heroics, Cummins is likely to die again here, which opens up the prospect of more wickets and backing him to collect a total of more than 1.5 match wickets in this encounter seems like a smart play.

AFGHANISTAN USA AUSTRALIA EXPERT PREDICTION

While Afghanistan has a number of top individual players who have come to prominence in the competition, be it Fazalhaq Farooqi and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the depth of the squad is their weak point. However, Australia have no such issues with their team stacked top to bottom with quality players.

This should prove crucial when these two nations clash, as was the case when Afghanistan ended up on the losing side against India. Unfortunately for them, the same outcome will be favored here, with Australia likely to finish simply too well for Rashid Khan’s side.

AFGHANISTAN USA AUSTRALIA TOP TIP: AUSTRALIA TO WIN