Published: Mar 10, 2018, 11:46 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 10, 2018, 07:13 PM (IST)
Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2018. Match 16 of the tournament will see Nepal take on Afghanistan. Both sides enter the contest of the back of only losses. It will be fresh beginnings for Nepal as well as Afghanistan, with a hope to keep their 2019 World Cup dream alive. Afghanistan had entered the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers as favourites with their success in the recent past. Shockingly, they lost all the three matches in tournament so far. As for the standings in Group B, Scotland and Zimbabwe lead the pack while the win over Afghanistan has given Hong Kong a chance.
To get in among the top three and qualify for the Super Sixes, Rashid Khan’s team must not only beat Nepal in Bulawayo but also hope for Zimbabwe and Nepal to beat Hong Kong. That will put all three of Afghanistan, Nepal and Hong Kong on two points, with net run rate deciding who goes through. Meanwhile, Nepal also share the same fate. They are up against Afghanistan whose confidence level is at an all time low. To make it worse, the forecast suggests rains for during the day. Hopefully, one can witness a full match.
Squads:
Nepal: Paras Khadka (c), Dipendra Singh Airee (wk), Aarif Sheikh, Lalit Bhandari, Shakti Gauchan, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Gyanendra Malla, Dilip Nath, Rohit Kumar, Lalit Rajbanshi, Basant Regmi, Anil Sah, Sompal Kami, Sharad Vesawkar
Afghanistan: Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rashid Khan (c), Javed Ahmadi, Ihsanullah Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Samiullah Shenwari, Nasir Jamal, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Afsar Zazai
