Betting Tips

The Afghan men's cricket team is visiting Zimbabwe for a series of T20I, ODI, and test matches. The T20I leg of the contest is completed. Afghanistan won the T20I series by a margin of 2-1. Now, the first ODI will be played on 17th December 2024 at the usual venue of Harare Sports Club in Harare. This article will examine this contest's match preview, pitch report, betting tips, and match prediction.

Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan Head-to-Head Record

The Zimbabwe and Afghanistan teams have played against each other on 28 occasions in the ODI format. Afghanistan won 18 games, while Zimbabwe won 10.

Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan Live-streaming and Broadcast

The live telecast of this game will not be available to Indian cricket fans on TV. However, this game will be available on the FanCode site ad app for those interested in watching the game via live-streaming

ZIM vs AFG Team Previews

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has lost four out of its last five ODI games against Afghanistan. It also does not have a very good record against the visitors in this format, although this record is better than the situation in the T20I format. Zimbabwe has also lost its last couple of ODI games.

The Zimbabwe batting will rely on Sikandar Raza, Brian Bennett, Dion Myers, Sean Willaims, and Craig Ervine to score most of the runs. Craig Ervine has led the batting charts for Zim in the ODI format this year. He has scored 157 runs in his last six games, with two fifties to his credit.

Joylord Gumbie is also expected to do well in this format against Afghanistan although he scores his runs slowly. The Zimbabwe bowling attack will depend on bowlers such as Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Wellington Masakadza, Trevor Gwandu, and Blessing Muzarabani to get them essential breakthroughs.

Richard Ngarava has been Zim's leading bowler in the ODI format. He has picked up ten wickets from his last six games while bowling at an economy rate of 4.85.

Zimbabwe Expected Playing 11

Afghanistan

Afghanistan men have performed well against Zimbabwe in recent games. They have won their last three encounters against this opposition. They are also going into this contest after a win in the ODI series against Bangladesh. They won the previous match they played in this format.

The Afghanistan batting department will rely on the likes of Hashmattulah Shahidi, Rahmat Shah, Sadiqullah Atal, Mohammad Nabi, and the opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz to score the bulk of the runs. Gurbaz has been in terrific form with the bat this year and has topped the batting charts for Zimbabwe this year.

Gurbaz has scored 530 runs in his last ten innings, with an average of 53. He is scoring these runs with a decent strike rate of 89.98. Azmatullah Omarzai is another significant batter for Afghanistan.

He has scored 263 runs in his last ten games with an average of 37.57 and an excellent strike rate of 99.24. The Afghan bowling charge will again be led by the skipper Rashid Khan, who picked up 12 wickets from his last five games with a strike rate of 22.75.

Abdul Ghazanfar has picked up 12 wickets from his previous eight games with a strike rate of 27.25.

Afghanistan Expected Playing 11

ZIM vs AFG Toss Prediction

This track has been a good hunting ground for sides chasing targets. Out of the whopping 161 ODI games played at this venue, 76 have been won by the teams batting first, and 84 have been won by the teams chasing a target. So, the skipper might consider this evidence an indicator and opt to chase a target.

Pitch and Conditions

The average first innings score obtained at the Harare Sports Club venue is nearly 230 runs. But the biggest total attained here is 408 runs when Zimbabwe plundered the USA bowling attack all over the park. The wicket will remain in the favor of batters for the most part. Some showers are also expected during the game.

This might bring the D/L equation into the picture.

ZIM vs AFG Betting Tips

Zimbabwe is playing at home and will have the crowd's support. But the Afghanistan team has their number. They have a good record against the Zim and are likelier to win this encounter and take an early lead in this contest. The Afghan bowling attack will be difficult to dislodge for the Zimbabwe batters.

Bet on Afghanistan to win.