THE EDGE: The Edge previews the Cricket World Cup clash between AFGHANISTAN v PAKISTAN with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Afghanistan v Pakistan
MATCH OVERVIEW:
A new week begins at the Cricket World Cup on Betdaq Betting Exchange, and we kick it off with Afghanistan against Pakistan in Chennai. We had a huge weekend with South Africa taking all the headlines with their impressive win over England. That loss has more-or-less knocked England, the tournament holders, out of the tournament. For them to get into the top four now would be quite the result; literally everything would have to go in their favour in so many games they aren’t even playing.
At the moment you’d have to say the Semi-Finals will involve India, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa but the only wildcard to upset that is Pakistan. They could have dealt with the loss to India, but their loss to Australia was a huge setback. They now need to win every game and see what happens – their fans will be paying close attention to Australian games I think! Afghanistan shocked England, but outside of that game they have been woeful. They’ve had three massive losses against Bangladesh, India and New Zealand. You wouldn’t even say their batting fired against England, more so England’s batting flopped.
We should have a very interesting game here though. Batting conditions are tough in Chennai and both sides have some excellent spinners. With both also used to these conditions too their batters are used to playing spin. Pakistan will have to perform under-par for Afghanistan to have a chance, but we all know Pakistan can have their blowout games.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
This will be the fourth game in Chennai, and we’ve yet to see a score of 300. That hasn’t been the case at other grounds as we’ve seen games go closer to 400 over the weekend! Scores are creeping up, Australia were all out for 199 in the first game, Bangladesh lost with 245/9 in the second game and then New Zealand posted 288/6 against Afghanistan to win. With both sides having some world class spinners I don’t see a high scoring game here. Even 260 might be competitive but you’d want to be aiming for 280 if batting first.
RECOMMENDED BET:
Pakistan are the heavy favourites at 1.36, and it’s not that often they start at odds that short. They have played very well at the World Cup despite being only two from two. Their batting flopped against India, but that’s such a massive game these things happen. They gave the big chase against Australia a good go, and I wouldn’t worry about the big score conceded in Bangalore because that ground is known for high scores. Their also created a record World Cup chase against Sri Lanka. Afghanistan have been pretty poor at the World Cup; they took headlines but that was England flopping and England just haven’t fired this tournament. It’s hard to see past Pakistan here.
The Edge Says:
Three points win Pakistan to beat Afghanistan at 1.36 with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/PakAfg
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
With such talented spinners and tough batting conditions, this definitely feels like a game where you don’t want to be on the batting side for long. I think both bowling line-ups will have success, however the best time to bat will be first in my opinion. I can see Pakistan grinding out a very ugly 275 and defending quite easily if they won the toss. Afghanistan might attack more with the bat, but that is unlikely to work in these conditions.
