Afghanistan vs Pakistan Preview: Pakistan poised to move into top four

Pakistan are making an incredible run for the semi-finals.

With a surprise win over New Zealand just days ago, Pakistan suddenly emerged as favourites in the race for fourth spot with a favourable draw. The draw see's them now take on last placed Afghanistan, before a match against Bangladesh in which depending on England's next two results could simply see the winner of that match move into fourth spot. But Pakistan are the writers of their own fairytale after being written off earlier in the tournament, they have rose from their ashes to push for an unlikely semi-final berth. Their next chapter must include a win over Afghanistan today. Famously unpredictable, you never know what Pakistan is going to show up. On their day, they are one of the most talented collection of cricketers in the world. But on their worst, they're almost a laughing stock. Thankfully for Pakistan, even their worst here today should be enough to get them over the line against the lowly ranked Afghanistan. Babar Azam bounced into form with a crucial century against New Zealand, and with Shaheen Shah Afridi finding his mojo, suddenly Pakistan have a pace attack to match the best of them. For Afghanistan, it simply is now about playing for pride. No body expected them to challenge for the top four, but with world class players like Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, many expected a few more spirited performances like the one we saw against India where they almost pulled off a famous upset. Nabi has been Afghanistan's go to spinner, decimating Sri Lanka in a single spell, and regularly taking wickets to keep Afghanistan within the game. Khan, the more fancied spinner of the two, has struggled for impact at times, particularly against the English where he went for 110 for 0 off just 9 overs. It is the kind of spanking that may hamper his development in the short term, but with two games left in their campaign, he will be trying to regain the form he knows and try and push for an unlikely victory for his nation. WATCH OUT FOR - Shaheen Shah Afridi

Shaheen Shah Afridi picked up 3 for 28 against New Zealand.

Afridi is a name synonymous with great Pakistan performances, and after Shahid's final World Cup campaign in 2015 no body thought that an Afridi would be putting in man of the match performances in the 2019. But here we are. An inspired performance from the 19 year old left-armer showed that he is capable of match winning spells as he ripped the heart out of the Kiwis. If Pakistan want to challenge for the trophy, those kind of performances can't be a one off from Afridi and he will be looking for a bag full today. PREDICTION Unfortunately for Afghanistan, there is just too much on the line here for Pakistan to not be ready to put in a 100% performance. Pakistan have turned around their shortcomings from the earlier matches in the tournament to now be pushing for a semi-final spot. A win here will be massive for their chances. Pakistan to win by 80-100 runs / 5-6 wickets. STATISTICS HEAD TO HEAD ODI Matches: 3 Afghanistan: 0

Pakistan: 3

HEAD TO HEAD IN WORLD CUPS

Matches: 0

Afghanistan: 0

Pakistan: 0

WORLD CUP RECORDS

Afghanistan

Matches: 12

Won: 1

Lost: 11

Best Result - Group Stage (2015)

Pakistan

Matches: 77

Won: 43

Lost: 32

Best Result - Winners (1992)

ODI Record since World Cup 2015:

Afghanistan

Matches: 69

Won: 34

Lost: 31

Pakistan

Matches: 86

Won: 38

Lost: 45