Afghanistan vs Scotland Betting Tips 25/10/2021

18:01, 24 Oct 2021

Senior Author

18:01, 24 Oct 2021

Zohaib Ahmed is a sports journalist whose profession is to report and edit but whose passion is to predict and bet. He’s been in the industry for more than a decade and has worked/written for various bookmakers/tipsters. His expertise is in cricket, football, MMA, boxing and basketball.

The 17th fixture of the T20 World Cup 2021 sees Afghanistan take on Scotland at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on October 25 (Monday). The match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm IST.

Teams Status

Afghanistan

Afghanistan start their World Cup campaign with a seemingly easy fixture against Scotland, who were taken lightly by Bangladesh in their opener and swiftly upset. Hence, the Afghans will have to be wary of the Scots’ underrated game.

Due to the political upheaval back home, the Afghans were not able to play any competitive T20I series in the buildup to this tournament.

All they got was a pair of warm-ups. They were defeated easily by South Africa but proceeded to smash defending champions West Indies by 56 runs in the follow-up game.

The Afghans will be buoyed by the performance of their top four batsmen in that game. Their openers, especially, put on a show, sharing a 90-run stand that set them up for the big total (189-5).

The Rashid Khan-led spin-heavy Afghan bowling unit can give anyone a run for their money if they have even a moderate total to defend, and that will remain their primary weapon throughout the tournament.

Scotland

Thanks to their upset win over Bangladesh in their first game, Scotland cruised through Group B and eventually finished as group winners, winning all three of their games.

Don’t get any ideas; they still remain massive underdogs and should get beaten a lot in the main round but there is something remarkable about them. The Scots have steadily and consistently got better each game.

In their opener against the Tigers, they were 53-6 at one point but recovered to post 140-9 and eventually won by six runs. It followed a 17-run win over Papua New Guinea and an eight-wicket thrashing of Oman.

They have several strong batters, almost all of whom have found runs recently, while their bowling also has a decent combo of pace and spin.

What Do the Sportsbooks Say?

Brand	Afghanistan	Scotland
	1.275	3.7
	1.28	3.75
	1.31	3.65

Afghanistan are the favourites for this fixture. 22Bet has Afghanistan priced at 1.275 and Scotland at 3.7. Betway has Afghanistan available for 1.28 and Scotland for 3.75. Lastly, Dafabet has Afghanistan priced at 1.31 and Scotland at 3.65.

Tipster’s Angle

Tip: Afghanistan Total Runs In First 1 Overs Over 5.5 @ 1.91

Afghan openers Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad are genuine risk-takers. They smash or they go home; they operate in top gear or not at all – there is no middle ground. This was evident in their 90-run stand against the Windies, which came a game after both got out for ducks against South Africa. Zazai, in particular, operates at a strike rate of a massive 155.31 in T20Is. We expect fireworks or implosion from the get-go. This play can be found on 22Bet.

Tip: Hazratullah Zazai Total Runs Over (21.5) @ 1.8

These are still early days in Hazratallah Zazai’s career but this powerful 23-year-old’s talents are there for all to see. He’s averaging 40.71 in T20Is for Afghanistan at an eye-watering strike rate mentioned above and plays with a fearless approach and complete disregard for who the opposition bowler is. Needless to say, we, at BetNinjas, are fans of him and back him to do well on his World Cup debut. The play here is for him to score more than 21.5 runs – almost half his average – at odds of 1.80 with 22Bet.

Conclusion

Scotland remain undefeated in the competition so far but in Afghanistan, they face a side more talented than them and far more familiar with UAE conditions. The Scots should lose this barring an upset.