ICC World Cup 2019: Pakistan wins toss, opts to bat against Afghanistan in 1st warm-up match

BRISTOL: In its maiden warm up match, Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first against Afghanistan in the ICC World Cup 2019 on Friday.

This is Pakistan's first warm-up match being held in Briston as part of its World Cup campaign.

Every team is scheduled to play two warm-up matches before the World Cup kicks off on May 30.

The green-shirts would face Bangladesh in the second warm-up match on May 26.

Pakistan in ICC World Cup 2019

Pakistan come into the match having been thumped 4-0 in their recent ODI series against tournament favourites England, and while it might have been a useful bedding-in period which could help them acclimatise to the host nation's conditions, their bowling performances in particular were not up to par. Upon the conclusion of that series, Pakistan omitted three players from their final squad, with bowling all-rounder Faheem Ashraf and seamer Junaid Khan two of the casualties.

Pakistan will be hoping that recalls for out-of-sorts left-armer Mohammad Amir, who missed the final four England games with chicken-pox, and 33-year old all-rounder Wahab Riaz, who last played ODI cricket in June 2017, can catalyse something of a resurgence for Sarfaraz Ahmed's side, as they seek to break their duck which has inconveniently come at the foot of cricket's flagship tournament.

The Afghanistan batsmen will be looking to capitalise on any frailties in their opposition's bowling ranks. Mohammad Shahzad blasted an excellent 88-ball 101 in his side's 126-run win over Ireland on 21 May, while Rahmat Shah, the esteemed and stylish top-order stroke-player, will be keen to further his good form after recording a swift 62 in the same match. Recently promoted skipper Gulbadin Naib will come into the game in good spirit; he took 6/43 in Afghanistan's dominant victory.

They were humbled in the previous bout though, skittled for 138 in a woeful batting display in Belfast as Ireland prevailed comfortably by 78 runs. That being said, with seven wins from their last 10 games in the 50-over format, the lowest ranked team in this Men's Cricket World Cup should enter this game with plenty of confidence.

Babar Azam, who averages a lofty 51.67 in the format, will be the key component in Pakistan's batting line-up. The 24-year old has looked at ease in English conditions, breezing to two half-centuries and recording a century in the recent series. Equally, Pakistan will be desperate for opening batsman Imam ul-Haq to return to fitness after he sustained an elbow injury in the fifth ODI against England, and he was imperious throughout his four innings, notching 234 runs at an average of 117.

Looking to quell the threat of Pakistan's strong batting unit is the highly-coveted Afghan spin trident of Rashid Khan (MRF Tyres No.3 ranked ODI bowler and No.2 ranked all-rounder), 18-year old Mujeeb Ur Rahman and No.3 ranked all-rounder, Mohammad Nabi. Controlling the middle overs will be crucial in preventing Fakhar Zaman, Imam, Babar and co. from amassing a daunting total on what will likely be a hard, high-scoring track.

Squads

Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt & wk), Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz.

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