The 1992 World Cup winners Pakistan will lock horns with a gritty Afghanistan side at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai in the ongoing ODI World Cup on Monday, October 23. While Pakistan are still in the top five teams on the points table, a loss at the hands of New Zealand has pushed Afghanistan to the bottom of the points table with three losses and a solitary win after four games.
Pakistan will have to turn things around in their favour quickly as they are crestfallen after two consecutive losses at the hands of arch-rivals India and Australia. They were outplayed by India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad but put up a better showing in the game against the Aussies only to suffer another loss.
Their batters will need to play better cricket and attack the Afghan spinners or else the game might swing in favour of the Hasmatullah Shahidi-led side. On the other hand, Afghanistan were extremely sloppy in their previous match against the Blackcaps and dropped way too many catches and it came back to hurt them at the end.
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Pitch Report
This will be the fourth contest at the venue in the ongoing tournament and spinners have done fairly well thus far. The pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai suits spin bowling and the same might be on display in the game between Pakistan and Afghanistan on Monday.
MA Chidambaram Stadium Records and Stats
Total ODI Matches: 37
Matches won batting first: 18
Matches won bowling first: 18
Average first innings score: 226
Average second innings score: 204
Highest total scored: 337/7 by Asia XI vs Africa XI
Highest score chased: 291/2 by West Indies vs India
Lowest total recorded: 69 all out by Kenya vs New Zealand
Lowest total defended: 171 all out by England vs South Africa
