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MONITORING (SW) – Afghanistan is set to take on the mighty Australia, the most successful team in cricket World Cup history, for its maiden encounter at the 2019 World Cup in England at 05:00 pm Afghanistan Time on Saturday.
The two teams have only played each other once in the history of the World Cup and that happened in the previous edition, 2015, that was co-hosted by Australia. It was a tournament that the Aussies eventually went on to win, thereby increasing their record haul of World Cup titles to five.
For Afghanistan, that was their first ever World Cup in the 50-over format and despite being battered by stronger sides, there were clear indications that the Asian side were a bunch to look out for. According to Cricbuzz, Afghanistan is a strong side in the subcontinent, thanks to the trio of world-class spinners. In conditions outside Asia, challenges await them and the 2019 World Cup will be a litmus test of their progress thus far.
EXPECTED TEAMS
Australia’s Possible XI: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja/Shaun Marsh, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa
Afghanistan’s Possible XI: Mohammad Shahzad, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Gulbadin Naib (c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam
ENDS
