UAE vs AFG Match Prediction & Betting Tips - Feb 19, 2023
Afghanistan will take on the UAE on Sunday for the final T20 of the 3-match series. The match will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
With both teams winning one match each, the series is nicely poised at the moment as both teams will be desperate for a win here. Afghanistan starts the match as the favorite to win. But going by UAE's form in the last match, the visitors will surely not take things lightly here.
UAE vs AFG Team Previews
United Arab Emirates
UAE has a pretty horrific track record against full-member nations and that’s why most cricket pundits had predicted a whitewash for them in this series. However, the hosts overcame some pretty long odds to make a comeback and level the series by winning the second match of the tournament.
Chasing a tricky target of 138 on a slow wicket, Muhammad Waseem and Vriitya Aravind put together a brilliant opening stand of 119 runs and stunned the visitors by registering a 9-wicket win. Muhammad Waseem played a brilliant inning of 91 runs but missed out on a well-deserved century.
Captain Chundangapoyil Rizwan was the top-scorer for UAE in the opening match and will be hoping to play yet another good inning here. The team has a couple of good all-rounders in the form of Rohan Mustafa and Afzal Khan who can score important runs lower down the order.
The pace attack will be led by Junaid Siddique and Zahoor Khan, while Rohan Mustafa and Basil Hameed are the two spinners in the squad.
United Arab Emirates Playing 11
Mohammad Waseem, Vriitya Aravind, Chundangapoyil Rizwan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Aayan Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Zawar Farid, Junaid Siddique, Zahoor Khan, Akif Raja.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan has opted for a new-look squad for this series as some of the veterans including Mohammad Nabi, Usman Ghani, Darwish Rasooli, and Qais Ahmad missed out on this tour. Instead, the team management included some promising young players like Zahir Khan, Rahmat Khan, and Nijaat Masood. At least 5 players from the 18-member squad had played fewer than 5 T20s before the series started.
That didn’t seem much of an issue as Afghanistan won their opening match. While the match had a much closer finish than what the visitors would have liked, they still gained an early lead by chasing down the 143-run target in the final over. However, they weren’t so lucky in the second match as the hosts coasted through with a thumping 9-wicket win.
Afghanistan has a strong batting line-up and will be hoping to set up a big target for the hosts in this last match. Afsar Zazai and Karim Janat are in decent form, with the latter scoring a half-century in the first game, and leading his team to a win. The top-order batsmen including Hazratullah Zazai, Najibullah Zadran, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz seem to be struggling a bit at the moment but will be hoping to turn things around on Sunday. Rashid Khan was very economical in the last match but went wicketless despite having a pitch that was favorable to the slower bowlers.
The visitors will be banking on the pace duo of Azmatullah Omarzai and Naveen ul-Haq to give them early breakthroughs.
Afghanistan Playing 11
Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Gulbadin Naib, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Naveen ul Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Zahir Khan.
UAE vs AFG Toss Prediction
Both the games played here in this series have been won while chasing. Therefore, the team winning the toss will be looking to bowl first here.
Read our guide on toss predictions to learn how we analyze and come up with our tips.
Pitch and Conditions
The pitch at Sheikh Zayed Stadium is a bit slow and isn’t the easiest to score runs on. Batsmen will need to settle in before they start hitting the big shots. With 2 matches played here in the last 3 days, there are some rough spots that may help the spinners get some turn. The average first-inning score here is around 135.
The weather is expected to be clear with pleasant temperatures but we might see some dew on the ground during the second innings.
UAE vs AFG Betting Tips
As both teams are level with one win each at this point, this match is a virtual final and both sides will be giving their 100% to win it. While Afghanistan did lose the last match, we expect them to bounce back here as they have a stronger batting line-up compared to the hosts.
Bet on Afghanistan to win.
Bonus Cricket Bets
Rashid Khan picked up 2 wickets in the opening game and was the top wicket-taker for his team in that match. He has an excellent bowling record in the UAE, where he has picked up 40 wickets in 26 innings. With the pitch at Abu Dhabi assisting the spinners, we are backing him to be the top bowler for his team here.
We are eager to know what you think of our match predictions, if there is anything we can do better or if you want to let us know your own predictions for the match.