Afghanistan and New Zealand will face each other on Sunday, November 7, in Abu Dhabi.
Sunil Gavaskar believes that New Zealand and Afghanistan will be under pressure when they meet in their crucial and final Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 on Sunday (November 7) in Abu Dhabi after India’s massive win over Scotland on Friday (November 5).
India crushed Scotland by 8 wickets in their must-win match in Dubai, and with the victory, the Men in Blue (+1.619) have got their net run rate better than New Zealand (+1.277) and Afghanistan (+1.481) to have outside chances of making the semi-finals of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021.
On Friday, the Indian cricket team bowled out Scotland for 85 and chased down the target in just 6.3 overs to jump to the 3rd spot on the points table, pushing Afghanistan down to the 4th spot with New Zealand is in the second spot and Pakistan on top of the Group 2 Super 12 points table.
Now, the result of the Afghanistan v New Zealand match will decide India’s future at the T20 World Cup 2021, as the Men in Blue will be eliminated from the tournament if the Black Caps win their final Super 12 match in Abu Dhabi, but if Afghanistan wins, then India can make it to the top four.
Gavaskar told India Today, “This win now, now in the Afghanistan-New Zealand game, there is pressure on both the teams. Earlier on, it wouldn't have been the case with India's NRR not being good. But with India's NRR being better than both Afghanistan and New Zealand, so the pressure is on both teams.”
Hailing India's dominant performance against Scotland, the legendary batter said: “Mind-boggling performance by everybody. The way the bowlers bowled and the way the batters then recognized the situation and the equation and batted. There were no crass shots in that, both KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma played orthodox cricket shots. It was very, very good.”
He concluded, “India knew they couldn't be bowled out when chasing 86. So the openers did the right thing, they went hell-bent for leather straight away and put pressure on Scotland.”
Noteworthy, India will take on Namibia in the last Super 12 match of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai on Monday, November 8.