The first of Friday’s T20 World Cup Super 12 Fixtures features Afghanistan and Ireland and we take a look at the game from a betting angle.
AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan’s opening game was against England and having lost the toss they were sent into bat. They never got going scoring 112 in just short of their 20 overs with Zadran top scorer with 32 at a run a ball and Ghani delivering 30 runs also at a strike rate of 100%.
The bowlers then put up some stern resistance, but England were always likely to chase down the target and they did so with just under two overs to spare and 5 wickets in hand. The Afghanistan bowling figures looked good and pick of the bowlers for me was Rashid Khan with his 1 for 17 in 4 overs.
Unfortunately their next fixture against New Zealand was abandoned without a ball been bowled due to bad weather.
IRELAND
The Irish currently 4th on the log with 1 victory and 1 loss in their opening two games. They were disappointing in their opening match against Sri Lanka going down by 9 wickets having only scored 128 for 8 in their 20 overs, but they bounced back in the strongest possible fashion beating England in a rain shortened match. Ireland had lost the toss and were sent into bat and they had managed 157 all out in the 20th over. Andrew Balbimie top scored with 62 off 47 balls and there were also good contributions from Tucker and Campher.
They then restricted England to 105 for 5 off 14.3 overs resulting in a 5 run win on the Duckworth Lewis method. Joshua Little with his 2 for 16 off 3 overs was the pick of the bowlers and Balbimie got the Man of the Match award.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Afghanistan 8/13
Ireland 27/20
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Suggested Bet: Ireland win at 27/20
Afghanistan come into this game under big pressure and they face an Ireland side that will be bursting with confidence after that victory over England. I don’t make the Irish good things by any means, but for me they should have been a bit closer to even money in the betting and that is my signal to take an interest on a small upset.
Suggested: Ireland top Batsman, Paul Stirling at 39/20
Stirling started off quickly against England, but was dismissed for 14 off 8 balls. I rate him as a classy batsman and he showed with his 34 off 25 balls against Sri Lanka that he is in good form.
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
