Afghanistan came with a promise to upset at least two teams in this World Cup but they have spent their campaign dogged by one issue after another, on and off the field, and are winless in seven games. They are rooted to the bottom of the table, with the high point of their campaign the game
against India, where they came within two blows of a historic victory. However, they slipped back into old ways in the game
against Bangladesh, in which they fell short by 62 runs. They will now play for pride against Pakistan, a neighbouring country with which the rivalry is more intense than just a cricketing one.
The Pakistan camp, in the meantime, has suddenly found its best form, buoyed after inflicting a first
defeat upon New Zealand. Their World Cup dreams are well and truly alive, and
comparisons to the 1992 World Cup campaign have now reached fever pitch. All of that will fade, however, if Pakistan fail to beat Afghanistan and Bangladesh, two sides who did not play the 1992 version of this competition. There are still lots of ifs and buts but for now the proposition is simple - Pakistan needs to win their remaining two games to have a realistic chance of a place in the semi-finals.
Afghanistan on the other hand are living a dream in playing the World Cup a second time - a decade earlier, that would have been hardly within the realms of probability. Their bowling has given them a belief and confidence enough to pose a threat to any batting line-up, but the batting hasn't quite lived up to that standard. Even when they did get close to inflicting an upset or two, the absence of a finishing touch was notable. However, they should remember they beat Pakistan in
a warm-up game in Bristol before the start of the tournament, and coach Phil Simmons will be assuring them they can repeat the feat in the World Cup proper.
Afghanistan LLLLL (Last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWLLW
Pakistan have already offloaded
Shoaib Malik and brought in
Haris Sohail. The move proved vital in making the middle order work and gave much needed stability to the batting line-up. The spotlight remains on another senior hand: with
Mohammad Hafeez stuttering and unable to capitalise on his decent start, he will feel the pressure. He fell to part-time spinners in three of Pakistan's last four games, playing poor shots, requiring his team-mates to bail the side out.
Rashid Khan has been off-colour, despite his high billing. The legspinner has averaged 78.5 with four wickets in six bowling innings so far. In his ODI career, he averages under 18 and he was meant to be a key campaigner for Afghanistan this tournament. But ever since the assault he suffered
against England, conceding more runs than any bowler ever has at a World Cup, he appears to have lost confidence. At Leeds, the conditions seem unfavourable for spinners, as they average 45.7 with an economy of 5.4 in the last five completed ODIs at the venue. Can Rashid overcome?
Pakistan wouldn't want to break up their winning combination, so an unchanged team is expected.
Pakistan (probable): 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Haris Sohail, 6 Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Shaheen Afridi
Afghanistan have tried almost every possible combination, with 16 players used. One change here and there in the batting or bowling hasn't made a significant difference; they dropped Aftab Alam to recall Dawat Zardan in the last game against Bangladesh, but the bowler conceded 64 in nine overs for one wicket. Samiullah Shinwari in place of Hazratullah Zazai made a difference, as the batsman scored a useful 49 at No. 6 to offer much needed resistance. They are most likely to take on Pakistan unchanged from their previous outing in Southampton.
Afghanistan (probable): 1 Gulbadin Naib (capt), 2 Rahmat Shah, 3 Hashmatullah Shahidi, 4 Asghar Afghan, 5 Samiullah Shinwari, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Najibullah Zadran, 8 Ikram Alikhil (wk), 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Dawlat Zadran, 11 Mujeeb Ur Rahman
It's expected to be the hottest day of the year, with the temperature exceeding 30 C. The pitch is expected to be slow, but recent games here have had fast bowlers achieve success, which should play into Pakistan's hands.