T20 World Cup 2021, Match 27: Afghanistan vs Namibia, Stats Preview: Player records and approaching milestones

Afghanistan would like to bring their T20 World Cup 2021 campaign back on track as they meet Namibia in their next fixture. The encounter takes place at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday (October 31). The Afghan team would be gutted after suffering a narrow five-wicket defeat against Pakistan in their last outing. On the other hand, Namibia, having defeated Scotland in their last first game, will fight to pull off an upset.

Needless to mention, Afghanistan will take the field as favourites as they have played some quality cricket in the ongoing competition. While they thrashed Scotland by 130 runs in their first fixture, they suffered a narrow five-wicket defeat against Pakistan in their following game. However, they did a commendable job by taking the game down to the wire.

On the other hand, Namibia also met Scotland in their first fixture and walked away with a four-wicket win. However, the victory wasn’t really comprehensive. Chasing a modest-looking 110, Namibia crossed the line with just five balls to spare. As Afghanistan is set to pose a tougher challenge, the Gerhard Erasmus-led side must put up an improved show.

Meanwhile, let’s look at important stats and numbers ahead of the 27th game of the T20 World Cup 2021:

Head to head: These two sides have locked horns twice in T20Is and Afghanistan emerged victorious all times. One of their clashes occurred in the T20 World Cup as well.

34 – Mohammad Shahzad needs 34 runs to become the first Afghanistan player to complete 2000 T20I runs.

2 – Rashid Khan needs two scalps to become the fourth bowler to complete 400 T20 wickets.

1– JJ Smit is just one scalp shy of completing 50 wickets in T20 cricket.

2 – Gerhard Erasmus (48) needs 2 hits over the fence to complete 50 sixes in T20 cricket.

63 – Rashid Khan is the highest wicket-taker in T20s this year, 63.

60 – Hazratullah Zazai needs 60 runs to complete 2000 runs in T20 cricket.

8 – Rahmanullah Gurbaz needs 8 runs to complete 500 runs in T20I cricket.

5 – Mohammad Nabi needs five hits over the fence to complete 250 sixes in T20 cricket.

58 – Nabi can also complete 1500 T20 runs in the upcoming fixture. He is 58 runs short of the landmark.

25 – David Wiese needs 25 runs to complete 3000 runs in T20 cricket.

2 – Ruben Trumpelmann is one of the two bowlers to take three wickets in the first over of a T20I match. Angelo Mathews is the other holding the feat.