Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi won the toss and elected to bat in their T20 World Cup Super 12 match against Scotland in Sharjah on Monday. 

Speaking on his decision, Nabi said his team is looking to put runs on the board and defend. “The wicket is dry so we will try and put runs on the board and defend it. The pitch looks good for batting and we will try to restrict them,” the 36-year-old said. 

Meanwhile, Scotland skipper Kyle Coetzer said he was happy to chase and that he would have opted to send Afghanistan to bat first anyways. “Even in IPL we saw chasing teams having that advantage so really happy,” he said. 

Playing XIs:

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad(w), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Asghar Afghan, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi(c), Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Scotland: George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer(c), Matthew Cross(w), Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Michael Leask, Chris Greaves, Mark Watt, Josh Davey, Safyaan Sharif, Bradley Whealy.

Few last minute changes were made and veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi is back to lead the team. Notwithstanding their controversial build-up, Afghanistan have shown what they are capable of in the two-warm ups that they played in the lead up to the tournament. They lost to South Africa before wrapping up their preparations with a win over defending champions West Indies.

Afghanistan have built a reputation of a top bowling side over the years and if their batters are able to fire consistently in the tournament, they can beat any side on the day. A lot will depend on openers Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad in the batting department with Najibullah Zadran and skipper Nabi expected to get quick runs in the middle and death overs.

Their opponents, Scotland, are high on confidence after winning all their matches in the first round, including a famous win over Bangladesh.