PAK v BAN: T20 WC PREVIEW

We are in the business end of the tournament. NZ with 7 points and a massive NRR in excess of 2 have become the 1st team to qualify for the semi finals.

On the other hand, SL made it tough for ENG in their last match, defending 140 odd. ENG won with 2 balls to spare after Alex Hales' quickfire start. This could be a problem if the pitch gives spinners anything to work with in the knockouts. The same thing happened to them when they chased a mere 112 against Afghanistan in their opening match

Things in Group B are quite interesting. IND face ZIM in a must win match to enter semis. Before that SA and Pak have to make sure they defeat NED and Bangladesh. The former will be through the semi finals and the latter would be hoping for an upset in the ZIM v IND game.

It should be a cake walk for IND given Zim’s batting line up is brittle and there is hardly any resistance apart from Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams. But as they say, "Never write off anyone in sport"

Things aren't as easy as they look like for Pakistan as well. Their openers, their mainstays in the format for the last 2 years have struggled to lay bat onto the ball. Bangladesh have nothing to lose and they'll come out all guns blazing like they did in last game against India. In addition to that, they bowled beautifully unlike what the scorecard suggests.

Probable XI

Pakistan

Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi

Bangladesh

Najmul Shanto, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Yasir Ali, Affif Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Mossadek Hossein, Hasan Mahmud

Venue

Adelaide Oval

Total matches 12

Matches won batting first 6

Matches won bowling first 5

Average 1st Inns scores 158

Average 2nd Inns scores 144

Highest total recorded 233/2 by AUS vs SL

Lowest total recorded 117/10 by ZIM vs NED

Head to Head

Both teams have met 17 times in t20is

Overall: PAK leads by 15 - 2

Batting 1st: 7-0

Batting 2nd: 8-2

Last 5 matches; 5-0

In T20 WCs: 5-0

Highest run scorer: Shakib Al Hasan (360)

Highest wk taker: Mohammad Wasim (10)

Recent Form

(Last 5 matches)

PAK: W W L L W

BAN: L W L W L

Match Ups

Nawaz v Shakib: 20 off 10

Babar v Taskin: 27 off 31, 1 out

Rizwan v Taskin: 61 off 49

Shadab v Taskin: 22 off 14

Babar v Hasan: 22 off 16, 1 out

Babar v Mustafizur: 31 off 25, 1 out

Rizwan v Mustafizur: 25 off 18, 1 out

Afif v Shadab: 30 off 33, 2 outs

Shanto v Shadab: 27 off 22, 1 out

Shakib v Shadab: 22 off 23

Afif v Nawaz: 33 off 25

Yasir v Rauf: 23 off 8

Shanto v Wasim: 11 off 12, 2 out

Form Update

(Last 5 innings)

Key players & Fantasy Picks

Shadab Khan

He is Pakistan’s best fielder and vice-captain of the side. He is often promoted in the batting order and has won Pakistan 3-4 games with the bat in the last couple of months. He scored 50 in just 20 deliveries against SA in last match. Add to that his 4- over economical spells in every game. ( 8 wkts in 4 games at an eco of 6). He is a complete package in t20s who’ll fetch you plenty of points in Fantasy XI

Md Wasim Jnr

He is a wicket taking machine. So far he has picked up 7 wkts just from 3 games at an eco of 5.8 and is brilliant in the death overs along with Harsi Rauf. In addition to that, he knows how to use the long handle in the end overs.

Shakib Al Hasan

So far, he is the only trusted pick in the whole Bangladesh squad. Their batting has failed miserably every single time and its always good to bank on experienced players like Shakib in fantasy 11. He has also contributed brilliantly with the ball in end overs against SA and ZIM and dismissed the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav in last game. Could cause problems to PAK's batters who are not great players of left arm spin except for Nawaz.

Taskin Ahmed

He has picked 10 wkts in last 7 games and was lethal with the new ball in all the games so far. He bowled an economical spell to India's openers and given Babar and Rizwan's form, they should be vary of him.

Budget and reliable picks.

Liton Das and Iftikhar Anjum

Litton played an innings of a lifetime in the last game and almost put Bangladesh on the brink of victory. Iftikhar has scored 50s against both SA and India when PAK were in trouble after fall of early wkts. He has a stellar record in Australia with 221 runs from 7 innings at a SR of 141 and an average of 55

Fantasy XI