Cricket

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

October 5, 2023 4:30 pm
Rashid Khan celebrating
Photo Credit: Afghanistan Cricket Board - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_H_lg9DE7k

In an all-Asian battle, Afghanistan will be up against Bangladesh in the third match of the 2023 World Cup with the encounter to be played on Saturday, October 7. This match will be hosted at the HPCA ground in Dharamsala.

Our top Afghanistan vs Bangladesh predictions

Two of the younger World Cup teams face off in what could be an interesting battle given how closely ranked these two are coming into the World Cup.

Afghanistan to win: 6/5 (2.2)

There isn’t much to choose from between these sides in more ways than one – Bangladesh and Afghanistan are ranked eighth and ninth respectively on the ICC ODI Rankings, their recent head to head is 3-2 in favour of Afghanistan, spin plays an important role in their respective set-ups and the manner in which the two teams went about their warm-up games, both defeating Sri Lanka.

Afghanistan’s better bowling balance, however, gives them the slight edge here.

Top Afghanistan Bowler – Fazalhaq Farooqi: 3/1 (4.0)

Assuming this pitch could have a bit in it for the seamers right throughout, Fazalhaq Farooqi comes to mind for Afghanistan here. He has picked up the most wickets for his side (19) in the last one year and most for his team against Bangladesh (eight) in that same time-frame.

A must-win battle already?

These are two sides who haven’t been tipped to make the semifinals by most experts. What makes this match very important is if either of them wants to challenge the top four spot, they would have to win this encounter at the bare minimum.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan have had a bit of an issue in World Cup cricket despite being one of the more solid teams over the years. They have won just one match over the two editions of the cricket World Cup they have been a part of and they would like to change that around.

They have a fairly young captain in Hasmatullah Shahidi and with a power-packed Rahmanullah Gurbaz at the top, experienced all-rounder Mohammad Nabi in the middle and a bowling line-up consisting of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad and Fazalhaq, we could be looking a team to reckon.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s lead-up to the World Cup was filled with controversy as captain Shakib al Hasan and opening batsman Tamim Iqbal went on a war of words over the exclusion of the latter. According to their own board president the two haven’t been on talking terms for a while.

Not sure how much of that might have affected their preparations but they did come out firing in their second warm-up game against Sri Lanka, chasing down 257 for the loss of four wickets in 38.1 overs.

Afghanistan vs Bangladesh H2H

There have been 15 previous meetings between these two sides and Bangladesh lead 9-6. Over the last five matches, however, it’s 3-2 in favour of Afghanistan.

Pitch report and weather conditions

The weather for this encounter can be expected to be a lot cooler than the first two encounters. A high of 26 degrees centigrade could be seen while the humidity will touch 52%.

Since this is a morning start, there could be a chance of the pitch offering assistance for the seamers up front. Chasing a score could be the need of the hour.

Key match details for Afghanistan vs Bangladesh

  • Date & Time: 5 am GMT, Saturday, October 7
  • Venue: HPCA Ground, Dharamsala
  • Where to watch: Sky Sports and Sky Sports Cricket are expected to broadcast this match live for the UK audiences. Hot Star and Star Sports will telecast this in India while Afghanistan and Bangladesh fans can watch this with Ariana TV and Gazi TV respectively on TV.

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