Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe, Afghanistan v Zimbabwe in UAE, 2021, Today Match Prediction 10 Mar 2021

afg vs zim Match Prediction & Analysis

Afghanistan had a poor start to their two-match Test series against Zimbabwe as they went down by 10 wickets in the first Test and hardly looked competitive. With one more Test to go in the series, Afghanistan have a chance to even things up. However, that won’t be easy as Zimbabwe are pretty strong and Afghanistan is still pretty inexperienced in this format. Sean Williams has a decent al-round side that has already shown they can excel in these conditions. They would hence start as favorites for the 2nd Test at Abu Dhabi.
 

TEAMS PREVIEW

Afghanistan Preview

Afghanistan would have loved to have their star spinner Rashid Khan for the first Test as he could have been quite a handful on these surfaces. Rashid, who has suffered a finger injury, would be hoping to make a comeback in the 2nd Test. His unavailability would make the bowling department really inexperienced and the likes of Yamin Ahmadzai, Amir Hamza, Zahir Khan, and Abdul Wasi will have a task on their hands. They did a decent job in the last Test by restricting Zimbabwe to 250 in the 1st innings of the Test. However, a little more discipline would be required to put up sustained pressure.

Where Afghanistan rally lost the first Test was their shoddy batting performance. They could muster just 131 and 135 in their two innings on a slow surface and would really need to put up a better show if they hope to make an impact in the Tests. Ibrahim Zadran, who scored a fine 76 in the 2nd innings of the previous game, would again be expected to make a valuable contribution. Rahmat Shah and skipper Asghar Afghan are the two other batsmen to watch out for.
 

Afghanistan Predicted Playing XI:

Abdul Malik, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Munir Ahmad, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai (wk), Asghar Afghan (c), Rashid Khan, Amir Hamza, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan

Afghanistan Actual Playing XI:

Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Javed Ahmadi, Nasir Jamal, Ibrahim Zadran, Shahidullah Kamal, Amir Hamza, Sayed Shirzad, Rahmat Shah, Afsar Zazai, Rashid Khan

Zimbabwe Preview

Zimbabwe would be happy with their performance in the 1st Test. Their bowlers, firstly, did a terrific job of pushing Afghanistan on the mat in both the innings and didn’t give them a chance to get into the game. Blessing Muzarabani and Victor Nyauchi were brilliant, picking up 12 wickets between them, and would be the main threat to the opposition again. Donald Tiripano was impressive too in the 2nd innings with a decisive spell of 3-23.

On the batting front, skipper Sean Williams was the star for the team and led from the front with an amazing 105 in the first innings. Although he would have wanted a little more contributions from his top-order, Sikandar Raza’s fluent 43 and Regis Chakabva’s crucial 44 down the order proved to be enough. Zimbabwe’s top three - Prince Masvaure, Kevin Kasuza, and Tarisai Musakanda would like to make a bigger impact in the next Test.

Zimbabwe Predicted Playing XI:

Kevin Kasuza, Prince Masvaure, Sean Williams (c), Wesley Madhevere, Tarisai Musakanda, Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva (wk), Donald Tiripano, Blessing Muzarabani, Victor Nyauchi

Zimbabwe Actual Playing XI:

Sikandar Raza, Victor Nyauchi, Regis Chakabva, Prince Masvaure, Blessing Muzarabani, Ryan Burl, Tarisai Musakanda, Kevin Kasuza, Wesley Madhevere, Donald Tiripano, Sean Williams

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The pitch at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, like most Asian surfaces, would be decent for batting on the first two days and begin to crumble after that. The best day for batting is likely to be day 2 and spinners will find assistance post that. Seamers too will get some help in the early parts of the day.

The weather in Abu Dhabi is expected to be hot and humid. It will be sunny too and that could make the pitch break faster.

Venue Details

The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi has seen some huge totals with England’s 598-9 (dec.) against Pakistan in 2015 being the highest one. There have been six totals above 500 on this venue and that shows how good for batting it can be. However, given the quality of batting on either side in this series, don’t expect any huge totals in this Test.

Toss: To Bat

The team winning the toss would look to bat first. On sub-continental surfaces, putting on a good score in the first innings is the safest bet to dominate a Test match.