Pak take on Afghans in must-win match

Leeds

Enigmatic Pakistan will hope to continue their resurgent run while keeping complacency at bay when they play Afghanistan here tomorrow. Staring at possible league stage elimination after three defeats and a washout, Pakistan staged a remarkable comeback with wins over South Africa and New Zealand to keep their hopes alive.

A couple of losses for hosts England only brightened the 1992 winners’ prospects of a semifinal berth.

There were quite a few positives from the six-wicket victory over New Zealand, with Babar Azam’s century and Shaheen Afridi’s five-wicket haul being the most prominent ones. The worry now is that after beating South Africa and then the unbeaten New Zealand, a feeling of complacency may creep in, but Pakistan cannot allow that to happen. — PTI

Form guide
England: WWLLW
Afghanistan: LLLLL
(L=lost W=won; Last five completed matches, most recent first)

Pitch and conditions

The pitch is expected to be slow. The temperature is likely to exceed 30 degree

Celcius

78.5  Rashid Khan’s average with four wickets in six innings so far. In his ODI career, he averages under 18

3 Times Pakistan and Afghanistan have played each other, with Afghanistan yet to win

44.4  Pakistan’s win percentage at Leeds, having won 4 and lost 5 matches

16  Players tried by Afghanistan with almost every possible combination. They are most likely to take on Pakistan unchanged from their previous outing

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