Pakistan will be looking to stay in the hunt of a semi-final spot as they take on Afghanistan on Saturday in 36th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, scheduled to be played at Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds, England.
The match will start at 2:30pm (PST) and am 10.30 GMT, 09.30am local.
Fans from both sides of the border between war-weary nation Afghanistan and Pakistan will watch this World Cup match most intensely.
Pakistan cannot afford any more slip-ups, needing to win their final two matches to retain a realistic chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Pakistan: Sarfaraz is unlikely to change his playing XI, unless enforced by an injury, as the combination has worked very well for him over the wins against South Africa and New Zealand.
Probable XI: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c&wk), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi
Afghanistan: Team Afghanistan’s spinners took only 8 wickets in their first five games. The last two games, on drier surfaces, have seen their spinners bag 9 wickets. The captain is difficult to anticipate what change he might do to his team today.
Probable XI: Gulbadin Naib (c), Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan/Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shinwari, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Ali Khil (wk), Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Pakistan have a 4-5 win-loss record at Headingley in ODI contests. In World Cup games however, ther have a winning 3-2 record here.
Afghanistan have lost the most wickets – 47 – to fast bowlers in this World Cup.
