T20 WC: Afghanistan win toss, decide to bowl against Papua New Guinea
Jun 14, 2024
Tarouba [Trinidad and Tobago], June 14 : Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bowl against Papua New Guinea in the T20 World Cup 2024 match at the Brian Lara Stadium here on Friday.
Afghanistan are standing in second place on the Group C table with four points. They are coming into this match after beating New Zealand by 84 runs. The Afghans will qualify for the next round if they win against Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea are coming into this match after conceding a defeat against Uganda. They have already lost their first two games of the marquee event and are standing in fourth place in the table with no points.
Speaking at the toss, Papua New Guinea skipper Assad Vala said that the batters will set the tone for them.
"We would have bowled as well, but the batters will need to set the tone for us. We had a few days off and we're well rested. We have played well and will look to do the same against Afghanistan tonight. One change based on conditions - Charles Amini misses out," Vala said.
Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan said that they are taking one game at a time and thinking about the Super Eights right now.
"We want to bowl first, the dew could be a factor later on, but we'll have to do the basics well and the mindset is to chase. We had a good break of 6 days, it gave us time to recover fully for this match. We aren't thinking about Super Eights as yet, each game is very important and we're taking this game seriously. No changes for us," Rashid said.
Papua New Guinea Playing XI: Tony Ura, Assad Vala (C), Lega Siaka, Sese Bau, Hiri Hiri, Chad Soper, Kiplin Doriga (WK), Norman Vanua, Alei Nao, John Kariko, Semo Kamea.
Afghanistan Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (C), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
