Antigua, Feb 1 (Agency) Afghanistan will lock horns with England in the Super League semifinal 1 of the ICC Under-19 World Cup on Tuesday. From the very word go, Afghanistan will be looking to be at the top of their game to avoid an unbeaten England an easy journey into the final. Though Afghanistan sneaked into the semifinals after a close encounter with Sri Lanka in the quarterfinal, their group stage performance was exceptional.
It will be crucial for Afghanistan batsmen to put up a good show, and not lose wickets in heaps. Their bowlers have been on the money so far, but they have to take early wickets to check the destructive top -order English batsmen. Openers Jacob Bethell and William Luxton were destructive from the start against South Africa in the quarterfinals. Bethel made an entertaining 88 that included 16 fours and 2 sixes while chasing the South African target. He put on 104 runs in the first 10 overs, which helped England to cross over the line and win the match by six wickets. Afghanistan will be up against England captain Tom Prest, who has been in great form. He has scored 275 runs and is the second-highest run-getter in the tournament. His unbeaten 154 and 93 are knocks to be remembered. In the bowling department, Rehan Ahmed forms an integral part of the bowling attack.
He bagged four wickets in the previous match and impressed with his wrist spin. Against Sri Lanka, the odds were heavily stacked against Afghanistan when they posted only 134 runs on the board, but they produced a scintillating performance with the ball, edging out their rivals with a 4 run win. After getting bowled out for 134, Afghan bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to 130 in 46 overs. Abdul Hadi and Noor Ahmad will be looking to continue their batting form. They were the only batsmen in the previous match to have batted convincingly. Captain Suliman Safi is the only Afghan batsman who has put on any substantial score in the tournament. He made 62 against Papua New Guinea and 111 against Zimbabwe, but against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, he couldn’t get significant scores. Safi is the lynchpin who could decide what score the team finally posts. Afghanistan had a formidable 30 overs of spin to test England.
This attack is led by left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad, Izhar Ul Haq Naveed and left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote, who have caused damage to their rivals in the tournament. The outcome of the match, however, rests on weather. Rain is expected to pour down at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. This will play upon the minds of the batsmen. If the match is washed out, or no result is possible, England would go through to finals on the basis of their better group-stage performance. Probable squads England: George Thomas, Jacob Bethell, Tom Prest (capt), James Rew, William Luxton, George Bell, Rehan Ahmed, Alex Horton (wk), Thomas Aspinwall, James Sales, Joshua Boyden Afghanistan: Bilal Sayedi, Nangeyalia Kharote, Allah Noor, Suliman Safi (capt), Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai, Abdul Hadi, Mohammad Ishaq (wk), Noor Ahmad, Izharulhaq Naveed, Bilal Sami, Naveed Zadran.