Cricket

Pakistan vs Afghanistan prediction and betting odds: ICC World Cup 2023

October 22, 2023 4:31 am
Pakistan vs Afghanistan prediction and betting odds: ICC World Cup 2023

The 22nd match of the 2023 World Cup will see Pakistan try and reverse their losing trend when they face off against fellow Asian side Afghanistan.

Our top Pakistan vs Afghanistan predictions

While Pakistan start off the favourites here (at 4/11 or 1.36), their recent struggles make them vulnerable against a side that has already defeated England in the competition. Afghanistan, who are 5/2 (3.5) for this one, have the bowling strength to test any team but can they deliver with the bat?

First Prediction: Highest opening partnership – Pakistan: 3/4 (1.75)

While things went horribly wrong for Pakistan against both India and Australia, there were signs that their top-order is coming into its own. Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq have added 134 for the first wicket against Australia and can be expected to take that form forward here.

Second Prediction: Mohammad Rizwan to hit a 4 & a 6: 8/11 (1.72)

Rizwan is in the form of his life even though his team isn’t and he’s probably the one reason Pakistan are still very much with a chance to make the semifinals. He has 294 runs under his belt from four matches – the most for any batsman in this tournament so far.

Expecting him to get a big one here again and in doing so, hitting a four and a six.

PAK vs AFG – Pakistan wary of challenging Afghanistan

The cricketing fraternity back home in Pakistan isn’t very chuffed about the way things have gone for them in the tournament. The team itself knows it needs to win four of the next five matches to qualify for the semifinals.

On the other hand, Afghanistan have notched up a shock win but need to get a lot more consistent if they want to get anywhere close to the top four.

Pakistan

Over the course of the four matches in the tournament so far, it’s safe to say that Pakistan have found it difficult to get both, their batting and bowling going in the same match too many times.

Their loss to India was thanks to a poor batting showing and they went down to Australia because their bowling conceded too many. Even in their win against Sri Lanka, the poor bowling forced them to chase down the highest score in World Cup cricket.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan was on a high of having shocked the holders England in their third game but normal service resumed when New Zealand crushed them by 149 runs at this very ground.

They would have had a better idea of how to bowl on this surface and might even want to repeat what they did against England – bat first and then put pressure on the opponents in a challenging chase.

Pakistan vs Afghanistan h2h score

These two sides have faced off seven times in ODI cricket and Pakistan have won every single time. This includes a rather close victory at the 2019 World Cup where Pakistan scored the winning runs with two balls to spare.

Pitch report and weather conditions

There is no change in how the weather is expected to play with hot and humid conditions greeting the players again. A high of 33 degrees centigrade will feel like a lot more with the humidity touching 75% at some point in the day.

This could have a bearing on the pitch as well with the ground having hosted a match a few days ago. Run-scoring might not be the easiest and a score of 275 might become a difficult one to chase.

Key match details for PAK vs AFG

  • Date & Time: 8.30 am GMT, Monday, October 23
  • Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
  • Where to watch: This match will be broadcast live with Sky Sports in the UK while Indian viewers can watch it on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar. In Pakistan, this match will be live on PTV Sports and ptvflix while Afghanistan fans can tune in to Ariana TV and arianatelevision.com for this encounter.

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