The Defending Champions Australia will take on Afghanistan at Adelaide Oval in a Group 1 match of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 on Friday.
Since Australia have a -0.304 NRR in Group 1 Points Table; therefore, to remain in the run to qualify for the semi-final, a mere victory against Afghanistan might not help the Host as they would also require to secure a comprehensive win.
It would be the first ever clash between Australia and Afghanistan in a T20 International. Though they have met in One Day Internationals (ODIs) three times in 2012, 2015, and 2019. Australia won all of those three ODIs quite comfortably.
New Zealand beat Ireland by 35 runs
Earlier in the day, New Zealand defeated Ireland at Adelaide by 35 runs.
Batting first, New Zealand scored 185 for 6 in 20 overs. The Captain Kane Williamson scored 61 runs off 35 balls.
From Ireland, Josh Little, Gareth Delany, and Mark Adair picked up 3, 2 and 1 wickets respectively.
In the pursuit of a target of 186 runs, Ireland could score 150 for 9 in the stipulated overs.
Both openers Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie scored 37 and 30 runs respectively, building a 68-run partnership. But none of the following batsmen, except George Dockrell, contributed enough with the bat.
New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson grabbed 3 wickets whereas Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner, and Ish Sodhi also took 2 each.
Group 1 Points Table
In Points Table of Group 1, New Zealand are atop with 7 points and healthy net run rate (NRR) of 2.113. England and Australia are placed at second and third spots respectively with 5 points as well; however, their NRR are lower than New Zealand.
On Thursday, Pakistan secured a convincing victory against South Africa at Sydney.
Pakistan had set a target of 186 runs for South Africa to chase in 20 overs. Following the rain interruption, the South African innings was reduced to 14 overs with a new target of 142 runs.
However, South Africa managed to score 108 runs for 9 in 14 overs, falling short of 33 runs.
In Pakistan’s innings, Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed smashed quick-fire 52 and 51 runs respectively. South Africa’s Anrich Nortje took 4 wickets.
While the Captain Temba Bavuma remained the top scorer for South Africa with 36 runs. In bowling, Shaheen Shah Afridi bagged 3 wickets.
Shadab Khan was declared Man of the Match for scoring 52 runs and also taking 2 wickets.
Shadab. . pic.twitter.com/UpSMXpxGXc
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 3, 2022
