Big picture – Uphill task for Afghanistan
It’s a day game, starting at 11am. But as Stubbs said after the Canada match, it may not make much of a difference.
Afghanistan LLWWW (last five T20Is, most recent first)
South Africa WLWWL
In the spotlight: Rashid Khan and Quinton de Kock
Team news: Noor Ahmad could come in
Expect Noor Ahmad to replace Ziaur Rahman, who conceded 33 from his three wicketless overs against New Zealand.
Afghanistan (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Gulbadin Naib, 4 Sediqullah Atal, 5 Darwish Rasooli, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan (capt), 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi
South Africa could consider bringing in a second spinner in George Linde for one of the many fast bowlers.
South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Ryan Rickelton, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Lungi Ngidi
The match will be played on a red-soil pitch. In the last five T20Is in Ahmedabad, the average first-innings score has been 217. Even though the pitches in ICC tournaments are not that batting-friendly, expect a high-scoring game nonetheless. The sun will be out, with the temperature hovering around 30°C.
“To be honest, no one around the world will tell you how the wicket will behave before the game. Everyone gives their point of view. Nowadays, I think, what I’m hearing a lot is the discussion about the wicket. We don’t really discuss the skills that we have. We bring the skills into the game.”
Rashid Khan is not a big fan of pitch analysis
Tristan Stubbs does not want to put all the eggs in the spin basket
