Published: Jan 08, 2015, 06:45 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 08, 2015, 04:57 AM (IST)
Jan 8, 2015
As most major nations take on each other in matches as the part of a build-up for ICC World Cup 2015, Afghanistan, Ireland, and Scotland will clash in a triangular One-Day International (ODI) tournament at Dubai, starting January 8.
Afghanistan and Scotland will begin proceedings at the ICC Academy Stadium, Dubai. Afghanistan will go into the match as favourites given their recent form. Scotland will, however, look to turn things around and gain some momentum going into the World Cup.
The seven ODIs played between Afghanistan and Scotland also point at Afghanistan being the obvious favourites; they have won five out of those. Scotland will certainly look to improve their abysmal head-to-head record of 2-5.
In the recent performance programme arranged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to help the minnows to get a feel off conditions in New Zealand and Australia by pitting them against domestic teams, Afghanistan performed with more authority.
Led by Mohammad Nabi, Afghanistan won four off their eight games in the tour while Scotland just managed two wins of their scheduled seven games. The likes of Nawroz Mangal, Shapoor Zadran, Dawlat Zadran did an impressive job on the tour.
For Scotland, Kyle Coetzer was the star performer with the bat, averaging 55.50 in the series including a century. The biggest positive for Scotland from the tour was their stunning performance against a New Zealand XI, though they eventually fell short of pulling off an upset by just two runs.
The New Zealand XI team was filled with stars like Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Corey Anderson, Daniel Vettori, Nathan McCullum and Kyle Mills. After restricting the hosts to 263, Scotland came tantalisingly close but finished on 262, thanks to a brave 83 by Matt Machan.
Afghanistan’s momentum has been dampened after their recently concluded tour of UAE, which saw them lose the four-match ODI series 1-3, which probably means that UAE has gone a couple of notches ahead of them going into the World Cup.
With the World Cup round the corner, both teams will be keen to win and start the series on a positive note, the battle will be contested fiercely.
Afghanistan likely XI:
Mohammad Nabi, Asghar Stanikzai, Noor Ali, Javed Ahmadi, Usman Ghani, Gulbudeen Naib, Samiullah Shenwari, Mohammad Shahzad, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Shapoor Zadran.
Scotland likely XI:
Kyle Coetzer, Gordon Goudie, Preston Mommsen, Craig Wallace, Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Qasim Sheikh, Majid Haq, Matt Machan, Neil Carter, Rob Taylor.
