United Arab Emirates vs Afghanistan, UAE vs AFG 2023-24, Today Match Prediction 31 December 2023

UAE vs AFG Match Prediction & Analysis

UAE went down to Afghanistan in the first match of the series, without showing any semblance of fight. The hosts' lack of discipline with the ball allowed the visitors to put up a mighty total on the board, and they never looked like getting past it at any moment during their chase. Loss of early wickets dealt a huge blow to their chasing plans and triggered a batting collapse which they never recovered from. 

For Afghanistan, it was just another day where everything went to plan. They’ll be looking to be clinical with both bat and ball in this game and hope to snatch the series without allowing UAE a chance to square things up unlike last time. A series win here would allow them to test their bench strength in the third match before they get off to India for another important T20 series.

RECENT PERFORMANCE

UAE

L W W W L

UAE

131/4 in 20.0 6.55

UAE vs AFG 2023-24

Afghanistan beat United Arab Emirates by 72 runs 29 Dec 2023

AFG

203/3 in 20.0 10.15

UAE

122/2 in 14.2 8.51

GCT20IC

United Arab Emirates beat Saudi Arabia by 8 wickets

17 Sep 2023

SDA

121/9 in 20.0 6.05

OMA

169/7 in 20.0 8.45

GCT20IC

United Arab Emirates beat Oman by 22 runs

16 Sep 2023

UAE

191/4 in 20.0 9.55

OMA

169/7 in 20.0 8.45

GCT20IC

United Arab Emirates beat Oman by 22 runs

16 Sep 2023

UAE

191/4 in 20.0 9.55

UAE

134/7 in 20.0 6.7

UAE vs NZ

20 Aug 2023

NZ

166/5 in 20.0 8.3

AFG

W W W L L

UAE

131/4 in 20.0 6.55

UAE vs AFG 2023-24

Afghanistan beat United Arab Emirates by 72 runs 29 Dec 2023

AFG

203/3 in 20.0 10.15

PAK

115/10 in 18.0 6.39

AGMT20I

Afghanistan beat Pakistan by 4 wickets 06 Oct 2023

AFG

116/6 in 17.5 6.5

SL

108/10 in 19.1 5.63

AGMT20I

Afghanistan beat Sri Lanka by 8 runs

04 Oct 2023

AFG

116/10 in 18.3 6.27

BAN

119/4 in 16.1 7.36

BAN vs AFG

16 Jul 2023

AFG

116/7 in 17.0 6.82

BAN

157/8 in 19.5 7.92

BAN vs AFG

Bangladesh won by 2 wickets

14 Jul 2023

AFG

154/7 in 20.0 7.7

HEAD TO HEAD

TEAMS PREVIEW

United Arab Emirates Preview

UAE won the toss and put Afghanistan into bat but failed to back up their plans with an extremely poor bowling effort. Barring Aayan Afzal Khan and Ali Naseer, the rest of the bowlers conceded over 8.00 runs per over and struggled to put a lid on the scoring rate. Afghan batsmen looked a little scratchy early up and lost their first wicket after a sedate start, but UAE bowlers' failure to keep the pressure sustained allowed Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran to up the ante and run away with it.

Chasing 200 against Afghanistan bowling was always going to be hard, and they made it more difficult by losing both openers inside two overs. Vriitya Aravind couldn’t score at a canter and the new-look middle order batting with youngsters Tanish Suri and Samal Udawaththa in the mix was always going to feel the scoreboard pressure when chasing a daunting total under lights. UAE have a lot of work to do to be able to challenge this Afghanistan team, and they might struggle to win a game this series unless they perform to their potential with both bat and ball.

United Arab Emirates Predicted Playing XI:

Muhammad Waseem (c), Khalid Shah, Vriitya Aravind, Tanish Suri (wk), Basil Hameed, Samal Udawaththa, Ali Naseer, Aayan Afzal Khan, Nilansh Keswani, Muhammad Jawadullah, Junaid Siddique.

United Arab Emirates Actual Playing XI:

Mohammad Waseem, Tanish Suri, Akif Raja, Muhammad Jawadullah, Aayan Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ali Naseer, Vriitya Aravind, Basil Hameed, Junaid Siddique, Aryan Lakra

Afghanistan Preview

Afghanistan’s buildup towards the T20 world cup got off to a flying start with a dominant performance in the first T20I with both bat and ball.

Swashbuckling opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz started slow but quickly shifted gears to finish with a 100, while newly anointed young captain Ibrahim Zadran chipped in with a useful 59. All-rounders Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi hit 4 boundaries between them in the last overs, taking Afghanistan’s final tally over 200. The Afghan pace attack, featuring Fazalhaq Farrooqi and Naveen ul Haq, sent both openers out in quick succession, denying UAE a chance to score freely when the field restrictions were in place.

They kept asking questions of the inexperienced middle order and made sure that the chase went nowhere after the openers departed. Absence of experienced campaigners, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb, allowed Noor Ahmad and Qais Ahmad to lead the spin attack and they did an excellent job. With not many T20Is to go before they start their T20 world cup campaign, Afghanistan will be looking to win the series in this game and get some momentum going for them before they travel to India early next month for a T20 series.

Afghanistan Predicted Playing XI:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Qais Ahmad, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Afghanistan Actual Playing XI:

Azmatullah Omarzai, Darwish Rasooli, Ibrahim Zadran, Qais Ahmad, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen ul Haq, Noor Ahmad

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The pitch is ripe for scoring runs here in Sharjah, where the conditions slightly favour batting. The wicket may slow down as the match goes on, so batsmen will be looking to make the most of the powerplay overs.

UAE vs AFG Pitch Report

Sharjah Cricket Stadium hosts the second T20I of this series. The boundaries are short and not too wide at this venue, which gives batsmen free license to take on the boundary riders and clear them.

Toss: To Bat

Toss is not a crucial factor when teams are fairly unmatched. UAE wouldn’t want to repeat the blunder of sending Afghanistan in to bat if they win the flip of the coin. Afghanistan, on the other hand, will love to see how they go about chasing a score.