Nabi says: “The pitch looks good. And they played really well in the last game and are really motivated. Mujeeb Ur Rahman is unfit and Hamid Hassan comes in his place.”
Gerhard Erasmus says: “It’s a great opportunity for our bowlers to put them under pressure. It’s not easy to set a target with the wind blowing.” Namibia are unchanged.
AFG vs NAM Highlights Today, Sunday 31-10-2021. 26th Match, Group 2, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Afghanistan vs Namibia, from Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Afghanistan have won the toss elected to bat.
Afghanistan team: 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 3 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 4 Asghar Afghan, 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Mohammad Nabi (capt), 7 Karim Janat, 8 Gulbadin Naib, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Hamid Hassan.
Namibia team: 1 Craig Williams, 2 Michael van Lingen, 3 Jan Loftie-Eaton, 4 Gerhard Erasmus (capt), 5 Zane Green (wk), 6 JJ Smit, 7 David Wiese, 8 Jan Frylinck, 9 Pikky Ya France, 10 Ruben Trumpelmann, 11 Bernard Scholtz.
Form guide
(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Afghanistan: LWWWW
Namibia: WWWLW
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 Points Table
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021/22 Complete Fixture
Match Timings: 10:00 GMT | 14:00 Local
Umpires – Ahsan Raza, Chris Gaffaney
TV Umpire – Paul Reiffel
Match Referee – Javagal Srinath
Reserve Umpire – Richard Illingworth
Match number – T20I no. 1380 – ICC T20 World Cup 2021 27th Match
Naveen says:
Naveen-ul-Haq is the Player of the Match. He dedicates the award to Asghar Afghan. “I made my debut under his captaincy, so I want to dedicate it to him. I was watching the first innings carefully, on how to bowl with the new ball. It’s special to bowl in front of the Afghanistan fans. I think Asghar has been the best captain Afghanistan has ever produced. We will be missing him a lot.”
Asghar:
“Naveen showed his talent today.” Asghar thanks his fans for all the support they have given him throughout his career and asks them to continue their support throughout the tournament.
Post Match Presentation.
Gerhard Erasmus:
“We knew it would be a level up from the previous games. Afghanistan got away with the bat and a few partnerships stretched the total. I don’t think the pitch changed too much. To chase 160, you need to bat well. It was the quality of their attack and their cricketers, even with Mujeeb not playing, it showed today. We are going to take this as a stepping stone for the future.”
Mohammad Nabi:
“The boys have good morale. Our plan is normally to bat first but mentally we are ready to chase as well. In the meetings, we tell both openers to go and play their game. The way they are playing for the last ten years. We always depend on the spin, but we have good seamers too. They are quality bowlers as Hamid showed today. Last night Asghar told me that tomorrow might be my last game. It’s his decision. He has played for 16 years, captained for 6-7 years, and has won a lot of games for Afghanistan. He has won the most games for a captain in the world. [On if he asked him to change his mind] He had already decided.”
