AFG-U19 vs AUS-U19 3rd Place Playoff Prediction

AFG-U19 vs AUS-U19 Team Previews

Afghanistan U19

It has not been a lot of time since Afghanistan have made it to the international cricket scene, but they have done tremendously well in the limited opportunities they have had. In this competition, their U-19 side have even topped their effort with a semifinal appearance and that could go a long way in developing cricket in their country.

Afghanistan came second in their group, right behind Pakistan U-19, but managed to do a good job in their quarter-final match to book a meeting with England U-19 in the semifinal. They did come close to defeating the English side before the pressure got to them in the final moments of the game.

On paper, Afghanistan have a decent side that seems a bit over-reliant on their bowling. Their over-reliance was apparent in the previous match as well as they could not come out on top against England despite restricting them to a pretty modest total. Overall, Afghanistan U-19 have a bowling attack that can be pretty difficult to deal with for the Aussie batsmen. If the batsmen are able to hold their nerve and bring out their A-game, beating Afghanistan could be a very difficult task.

Australia U19

Australia U-19 did a terrific job up until they met India U-19 in the semifinal. They were undefeated in the tournament up until they got to the final-four stage and looked pretty good even for a title finish. While a win here would give them the third-place finish in the tournament, they would know that they missed out on a golden opportunity in the previous match.

Bowling first against India U-19, Australia started off pretty well as they kept the brakes on the scoring rate before Indians finally took it away from them in the last twenty overs. They never looked in control while batting and eventually lost the match by a hefty margin. Despite that loss, the Aussies shouldn't really be disappointed given the way they played in the tournament before that.

On paper, the Australian U-19 side have immense firepower, be it with the bat or with the ball. They would want the last match's score to be more an anomaly rather than a norm. Given the side they have on paper and the way they have played, getting past them is going to be incredibly difficult if the Aussies are able to play to their peak potential.