Published: Jan 16, 2017, 07:30 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 17, 2017, 12:17 AM (IST)
Hello, Good evening! Welcome to live cricket blog and updates of Desert T20 2017 challenge. The tournament has reached the sixth match, which will be played between United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan on Monday. The same day also witnessed the clash between Hong Kong and Oman. Hong Kong faced a defeat by 7 wickets at the hands of Oman. Coming to this current match between UAE and Afghanistan, both won their first game of the tournament. Afghanistan beat Ireland by 5 wickets, while UAE registered their victory over Namibia by 6 wickets. Looking at the records of both the teams while playing against each other, Afghanistan have always had upper hand by winning four out of five games against UAE.
The only game they lost against UAE was in qualifying round of Asia Cup T20 2016 in Bangladesh, due to which Afghanistan could not qualify for the main round of the tournament. Looking at the current tournament of the Desert T20 Challenge, which is being hosted by UAE itself, Afghanistan have an excellent record against them. They have won all three games against UAE in their backyard so far. Also, the overall numbers are also in favour of Asghar Stanikzai-led Afghanistan. The Blue Tigers have emerged victorious on 18 occasions from 25 in UAE, which is surely an impressive record.
On the other hand, Amjad Javed-captained UAE have registered only 3 wins from 8 T20Is in their home, till now. On paper, Afghanistan are surely a better and balanced team and last one year’s performances in tournaments like ICC World T20 2016 speaks it all. Although, UAE can bring surprise by beating them. Expect an exciting contest between both the teams.
Teams:
United Arab Emirates: Amjad Javed (c), Adnan Mufti, Ahmed Raza, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Mohammad Naveed, Mohammad Shahzad, Muhammad Usman, Mohammed Qasim, Muhammed Shanil, Rameez Shahzad, Rohan Mustafa, Shaiman Anwar, Zahoor Farooqi
Afghanistan: Asghar Stanikzai (c), Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Amir Hamza, Najibullah Zadran, Fareed Ahmad, Najeeb Tarakai, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Naveen-ul-Haq
