BAN vs AFG Preview ICC CWC 2019: Can Shakib lead Bangladesh to victory?

England's defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka breathed air into Bangladesh's hopes of securing a semifinal berth and the Mashrafe Mortaza-led side will be keen on making the most of the situation

Eager to keep the semi-final hopes alive, a desperate Bangladesh cricket team will look to add a win to improve their chances as they face a spirited Afghanistan cricket team in a do-or-die ICC World Cup 2019 clash at the Hampshire Bowl on Monday. With 5 points in 6 matches, Bangladesh are at the sixth spot in ICC World Cup 2019 Points Table while Afghanistan is at the bottom.

England's defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka on Friday breathed air into Bangladesh's hopes of securing a semifinal berth and the Mashrafe Mortaza-led side will be keen on making the most of the situation. However, Bangladesh will have to win their remaining three matches and expect results of other matches to benefit them.

Bangladesh have batted pretty well so far in the tournament. After hunting down a target of 322 against West Indies in just 41.3 overs, Bangladesh fought admirably in a 382-run chase against Australia, finishing with an impressive 333/8. The promotion of Shakib Al Hasan up the order has been one of the highlights of the World Cup as the all-rounder has stwo centuries already to his name, and is just 22 runs behind Australia's David Warner, who is the tournament top scorer. 

The bowling, however, has been their a concern as Bangladesh have conceded scores in excess of 320 in each of their last three completed games and the bowlers will have to step up to make life easier for their batsmen. 

On the other hand, Afghanistan, who are still in search of their maiden win in the tournament, will be drawing a lot of positive from their previous game against India on Saturday where they almost had the match in their control but they lost by 11 runs. 

But the team will take a lot of confidence from the fact that they restricted the famed Indian batting unit to 224 for 8. Given their experience of the conditions here, captain Gulbadin Naib will expect his spinners to weave their magic once again against an in-form Bangladesh batting line-up on Monday. The batsmen, however, will have to focus on staying at the crease for longer periods to help the team. 

The team has managed to play full 50 overs only once in the tournament although it was a strong opposition like England.

The weather is expected to be warm. The dryness of the pitch is expected to bring spin into play, much like it did during the game between India and Afghanistan. 

Bangladesh vs Afghanistan playing 11 prediction

Bangladesh playing 11: Mashrafe Mortaza (Capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman.

Afghanistan playing 11: Hazratullah Zazai, Gulbadin Naib(c), Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Ali Khil(w), Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Aftab Alam, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

ICC World Cup 2019, Match 31: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan Live streaming details

Date and Day: June 24, 2019, Monday.

Place: Hampshire Bowl, Southampton

Time: 3:00 pm IST, 13:30 am local time

The World Cup 2019 Bangladesh vs Afghanistan match live streaming will be available live on Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 with English Commentary and Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD with Hindi Commentary. The live streaming of the World Cup 2019 Bangladesh vs Afghanistan match will be available on Hotstar.

Squads:

Afghanistan: Gulbadin Naib (captain), Aftab Alam, Hazratullah Zazai, Asghar Afghan, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Dawlat Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Hamid Hassan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Samiullah Shinwari, Rahmat Shah, Noor Ali Zadran, Ikram Alikhil. 

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Abu Jayed, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun. Match Starts at 3 pm.