Preston Mommsen: Pakistan and Afghanistan impress…and don’t sleep on Sri Lanka

The flow of the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2021 has gathered pace and you can feel the competition really heating up – literally.

I have been keeping a keen eye on the teams who played in Round 1 and I think they have had an early advantage because they have had the time to adapt to the conditions, and the heat is a massive factor now. It is very hot here.

Sri Lanka look very comfortable and I am excited to see how they fare against Australia tomorrow after they beat Bangladesh in a high-quality match.

I think one of the reasons we have seen them start the Super 12s so well is that they have had time to adjust, build confidence and settle in. They didn’t want to have to come through the first round but you can see the benefits.

Having said that, the best match I have seen is India against Pakistan, which I went to watch as a spectator. The atmosphere was electric in that first over from Shaheen Shah Afridi. He was pretty special, so that was a great experience to see Pakistan play with the dominance they did against a strong India team.

Afghanistan were also dominant against Scotland and I do think they have the potential to go far and cause a couple of upsets. They have match-winners with bat and ball and then also in the field, so they were impressive.

With my Scotland hat on, I think the guys will be very disappointed with the end result. I think Scotland would have felt they had a chance because the last time they played them in a white-ball fixture, they chased 250 to win and they had Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan that day.

I don’t think they feared them but Afghanistan are a powerhouse and they have world class individuals. Some of the ball striking was incredible to witness first hand and unfortunately Scotland didn’t bowl very well.

Afghanistan’s record in Sharjah is phenomenal and it was a home ground for them for a while. I believe they have won 16 in a row there, so they are a force to be reckoned with.

They were dangerous in 2016 and are even more dangerous now, with Lance Klusener and Andy Flower coaching. They bring calmness to their batting and Shaun Tait is doing wonders with their bowlers too.

Qualifying for the second round of a World Cup for the first time is a phenomenal milestone in the journey of Scottish cricket and doing so in the style they did it made it an even prouder week. It has lifted the nation and hopefully as a result they will have a few more fans.

They have a few more games live on Sky Sports in the UK and it is important the guys keep putting in good performances. It is also important Scotland build on this.

After they play Namibia, Scotland have a week-long break, which is a long one. But it can be difficult to play so many games in such a short space of time and one of the enjoyments of being on tour is going out and experiencing different cities and cultures, which can be taken away from you if you’re playing so many games. I think some time off with be good for them to recharge.

A word on Namibia and Bangladesh too. I have been very impressed with Namibia in this tournament, just as I was in the qualifiers in Dubai. For me, they were the most impressive team at that tournament, led by Gerhard Erasmus.

They have a calm nature and we saw that against Ireland last week to get through. Gerhard is a classy leader and the way he got them over the line was outstanding. They adapt well to conditions, have seamers who take pace off and can be tough to play against.

Bangladesh have some match-winners in their own right and have a great spin bowling attack, so they could well be in the mix but they have some work to do. They didn’t start well and I saw their match with Oman but they have improved and will be a danger for anyone.