The No. 3 and No. 7 teams in the ICC Men’s T20I Rankings – India and Afghanistan respectively – will be up against each other in the 33rd match of the ongoing T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Wednesday.
So far, the Afghan team has impressed many with their performances as they have won two of their opening three matches to consolidate their place in the top 2 in Group 2. Afghanistan started their campaign by defeating Scotland by more than 100 runs. However, in their second game, they failed to pass the Pakistan Test before registering another major win over Namibia in their third match.
Meanwhile, the Virat Kohli-led outfit is experiencing an oblivion at the showpiece event. They started the tournament with an embarrassing ten-wicket defeat at the hands of the Babar Azam-led side and to make matters worse for them, the Men in Blue were defeated by New Zealand in their second match of the tournament.
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, Pitch Report:
The average first innings score at this venue is 139, which clearly indicates that it is not a high scoring ground. The average second innings score at this ground is 127 – this means the team batting first has the upper hand at this position. So far, the pacers have not been as effective on this ground, with the spinners taking center stage. It is easy to score runs at this venue during the power play overs as the pitch slows down as the match progresses.
Here are some interesting T20I stats for Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi:
Total games played at this venue: 55
Team to bat first: 24
Games won by the team batting second: 31
Average first innings score at this venue: 139
Average second innings score at this venue: 127
Highest total at the venue: 225/7 (20 overs) by Ireland against Afghanistan
Lowest score recorded at this ground: 87/10 (18.3 overs) by Hong Kong against Oman
Highest score followed by a team: 166/4 (19 overs) by Namibia against Netherlands
Lowest total defense at this venue: 129/6 (20 overs) by England against Pakistan
get all IPL news and cricket score Here
.