Australia - Afghanistan Predictions & Betting tips - ICC Men's Cricket World Cup

Prediction published on 05/11/2023, 15:30  by Devesh Jaganath

Match 39 of 48 in the 2023 Cricket World Cup will see Australia take on Afghanistan on Tuesday morning at Wankhede Stadium. The Aussies are currently in third place in the standings, while The Afghans are sixth. After a poor start to the tournament, Australia have gotten much better as the competition has progressed. They come into this match off the back of a 33-run victory over the defending champion England last weekend. That marked their fifth consecutive victory in the competition, leaving them on ten points, just two behind second-placed South Africa and with this game in hand. During their winning run, the Baggy Greens also beat Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Netherlands, and New Zealand. David Warner has been the standout performer for the Aussies with the bat, currently ranked sixth in the top run scorer standings with 428 in seven innings. With the ball, Adam Zampa has been incredible and is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with 19 to his name. Australia are the favourites in this match, according to the bookies. 

Meanwhile, Afghanistan have been one of the surprise packages of the competition. After losing their opening match of the CWC to Bangladesh, many had written them off as contenders to qualify for the knockout stages. However, they come into this match following three consecutive wins against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands, as well as having beaten England back in match 13. As a result, they are still firmly in contention for the fourth and final qualification spot, currently level with Pakistan and New Zealand on eight points each. It will, however, be an incredible outcome if they are to make it through with their final two group stage matches being this one before facing South Africa on Friday. The Afghans' main strength is that there have been contributions made by every player so far. While they are ranked above the likes of Sri Lanka and England, none of the Afghanistanis are ranked in the top 15 in the batting or bowling charts in this competition. Still, a team effort is what will be required to win this match, but can they pull off another big upset?