ICC World Cup 2019: Match 4, Australia vs Afghanistan, Preview – Rejuvenated Aussies begin their campaign against a spirited Afghan contingent

Steve Smith and David Warner's comeback has had an instant impact on the team.

Published - 31 May 2019, 15:06 IST | Updated - 31 May 2019, 15:06 IST

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The last time these two sides met, it was in Perth in a group stage fixture of the ICC World Cup 2015. Australia mounted the tournament’s highest ever team total courtesy David Warner’s flabbergasting pyrotechnics and it literally was a walk in the park for the host nation back then. Well, Afghanistan do boast of a better bowling attack right now, but they’re still vulnerable.

Steve Smith and David Warner‘s comeback has had an instant impact on the team. They look compact with the bat and astounding with the ball, making them one of the teams to watch out for. The five-time champions have got all the boxes ticked exactly at the right time and them being the only side to win both their warmup fixtures speaks for the form they’re in.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, won their first warmup fixture against Pakistan but were humiliated by the hosts England in the second one. All the momentum they garnered with a win vanished in a couple of days time, but they did show signs of what they’re capable of. The holders will be desperate to defend the title and a good start in this game could get them off and running.

Playing Combinations

Australia

It is still a mystery as to who will open for the five-time champions, but Warner and Khawaja are likely to start the innings with Smith at number 3. Finch, Stoinis and Maxwell form a stupendous middle order who will not get cracked down very easily. They have five genuine fast bowlers to pick from and they are expected to choose Cummins, Behrendorff and Starc to be in the XI, with Adam Zampa being the lone spinner.

Predicted XI

David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Aaron Finch (c), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

Afghanistan

Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai form one of the most attacking opening pairs in this World Cup. They have the likes of Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi who can play it around and make life easier for the attackers. Their whole strength lies in their spin trio of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi and the man himself, Rashid Khan. Dawlat Zadran and Hamid Hassan might get a nod ahead of the rest among the three pacers available in their squad.

Predicted XI

Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib (c), Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Focus will be on

Pat Cummins (Australia)

One of the best bowlers in the world right now, Pat Cummins didn’t bowl against England but chipped in with a decent spell against Sri Lanka. The consistency with which he has been picking wickets and stemming the run flow has been very impressive and is expected to be one of the highest wicket-takers this edition. Their bowling trio with Cummins, Jason Behrendorff and Mitchell Starc will be very hard to get away.

Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)

In a game where the men in yellow are expected to score plenty, it won’t be easy to contain runs for the rest, but Rashid Khan can definitely do that in his 10 overs. Whilst that is something he always does, it’ll be interesting to see how many wickets he can pick. In recent times, when batsmen decided to see his overs off by not taking any risks, he didn’t look very effective and will be keen to get more wickets than he did in the IPL.