The fifth match of T20 World Cup 2024 will be played between Afghanistan and Uganda. On paper, Afghanistan look far stronger, but Uganda have reached here the hard way and will want to make a big impression. One team on the rise and another already, if not at the summit of the game, at least comfortably ensconced at base camp, Uganda and Afghanistan will meet for the first time in an official T20I in Guyana to mark the former’s World Cup debut.
The fifth match of T20 World Cup 2024 will be played between Afghanistan and Uganda on June 4 at Providence Stadium, Guyana. Rashid Khan will be seen captaining Afghanistan in the tournament. Brian Masaba will take charge of Uganda.
AFG vs UGA Previous performances
Before the start of the T20 World Cup, Afghanistan played a three-match T20 series against Ireland, in which the team won 2-1. The team’s first warm-up match, which was against Oman, was canceled due to rain. But then in the second match, the team won against Scotland by 55 runs.
The Ugandan team is participating in the T20 World Cup 2024 by winning the qualifier tournament. Uganda had to face defeat by 5 wickets against Namibia in the first warm-up match. The warm-up match against Scotland was canceled due to rain.
AFG vs UGA Head to Head
Not a single T20 match has been played between Afghanistan and Uganda so far.
AFG vs UGA Pitch Report
Traditionally one of the most spin-friendly venues in the West Indies, albeit often offering some assistance for seam early. The PNG seamers especially had West Indies on the back foot against a swinging new ball. An average first innings score of 128 tells you there’s something there for everyone except new batters, even if there’s shots to be made once you’re in. Tuesday may see some scattered showers around too, but the worst of the weather isn’t expected to hit till later in the week.
In the last 12 months, teams have had to score 190-plus on average to win games at the Guyana National Stadium. The surface is slow traditionally. There’s a bit of rain forecast for the evening.
The pitch at Providence Cricket Stadium seems to help the spinners more. No matter what the format, the batsmen had to face challenges in scoring runs here. But the pitch here has been remodeled, which will help the batsmen. Also good bounce and swing will also be seen. The average score of the first innings on this pitch in T20 is 150-170.
AFG vs UGA Big picture – Can Uganda make it a debut to remember
It has been a long road for Uganda to the T20 World Cup 2024 but they are here by right, and now have a chance to make a big mark.
Their first opponents, however, are not the sort you want to face when trying to ease into the top flight. Afghanistan are a team bristling with talent and ambition after finishing sixth in the 2023 ODI World Cup. They beat England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Netherlands in an impressive run, and might just have finished stronger had it not been for a once-in-a-lifetime innings from Glenn Maxwell.
At this World Cup, Afghanistan would want to finish things off quickly against Uganda in the first game and later Papua New Guinea, the Associates in their group, because co-hosts West Indies and New Zealand are also in the same group, so Super Eight qualification could get tricky. And that’s not counting for upsets, as PNG threatened to pull off against West Indies.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran will be expected to give them a quick start. Their spin trio of captain Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman make up one of the most formidable T20I spin attack. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq are reputed T20 quicks, while allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai is a rising star. It’s a team with a lot of T20 class.
But Afghanistan’s batters will have to be watchful against Uganda, who have as many as three left-arm finger spinners in their ranks. Apart from Najibullah Zadran, none of the likely starters among the batters are left-hand batters. Uganda, on the other hand, have some variety in their bowling, which opponents have to watch out for.
They got to the World Cup through the Africa qualifiers, where they beat Zimbabwe by five wickets. It was their first win against a Full Member side, and one that has raised their hopes. They will bank on batter Roger Mukasa, allrounders Riazat Ali Shah and Alpesh Ramjani, and left-arm spinner Henry Ssenyondo, all regular performers.
It could become an interesting battle, despite the gulf between the two sides. And if Uganda want some inspiration from history, they could look back at this game from 2009.
AFG vs UGA In the spotlight – Azmatullah Omarzai and Alpesh Ramjani
Azmatullah Omarzai was among the top-performing allrounders at the ODI World Cup last year. His 353 runs and seven wickets were comparable to the numbers of Rachin Ravindra and Maxwell among those who scored at least 300 runs and took five wickets. Omarzai doesn’t have great numbers in T20s yet, but Afghanistan see the 24-year-old as one for the future, as did Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024. He will bat in the middle order, and his swing bowling might come in handy in the powerplay too.
Allrounders are Uganda’s strength, and Alpesh Ramjani is the leader of that pack with his 469 runs and 65 wickets since 2023. Ramjani bats in the middle order and bowls left-arm spin. A product of Mumbai’s famed cricket structure, he played with the likes of Shivam Dube, and considers Suryakumar Yadav as a mentor. Ramjani moved to Uganda in 2021 at the advice of current team-mate Dinesh Nakrani, and made his international debut in 2022.
AFG vs UGA Vital Stats that matters
- Among Full Members, Ibrahim and Gurbaz are T20Is’ second-most prolific pair since the end of the 2022 T20 World Cup for any pair to have batted at least ten times. They have scored 503 runs at an average of 41.91 in this period, with a hundred and three fifty stands.
- Ramjani (55) and Ssenyondo (49) were the top-two wicket-takers in T20Is in 2023.
- Mukasa was the second-highest T20I run-scorer in 2023 with 738 runs, five ahead of Suryakumar, who had 733 runs.
- Nabi is Afghanistan’s only surviving member from the 2010 edition of the T20 World Cup.
- Frank Nsubuga, at 43, is the oldest player in the tournament.
AFG vs UGA Probable Playing XIs
Afghanistan:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk.), Gulbadin Naib, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Karim Janat, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fazalhaq Farooqui, Naveen-ul-Haq.
Uganda:
Raunak Patel, Simon Sessaji (wk.), Roger Mukasa, Robinson Obuya, Dinesh Nakrani, Alpesh Ramjani, Riyazat Ali Shah, Brian Masaba (c), Juma Miyagi, Cosmas Qivutta, Bilal Hasan.
AFG vs UGA Fantasy XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk.),Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fazalhaq Farooqui, Roger Mukasa, Alpesh Ramjani, Cosmas Qivutta, Bilal Hasan
AFG vs UGA Probable Best Batter of the Match-
Afghanistan’s opening batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been seen batting brilliantly in the last few matches while playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. Gurbaz had played an inning of 39 runs in the final against Hyderabad. Gurbaz can also show lethal form in the T20 World Cup. So far in T20 International matches, Gurbaz has scored 1376 runs in 55 matches with an average of 25.02 and strike rate of 138.01. Which includes one century and 7 half-centuries.
Probable Best Bowler of the Match-
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan can be seen performing brilliantly for the team in the T20 World Cup 2024. So far, Rashid Khan has taken 138 wickets in 85 T20 matches at an economy of 6.07. His form was good in the recent IPL also.
AFG vs UGA Today’s Match Prediction
Scenario 1
Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat
Powerplay Score- 45-55
Score of first innings- 160-170
Afghanistan won
Scenario 2
Uganda won the toss and chose to bat
Powerplay Score- 25-35
Score of first innings- 130-140
Afghanistan won