Netherlands Vs Afghanistan ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Lucknow Weather Report: Very Unhealthy Air Quality But No Rain Predicted Lucknow weather report. (Image: ANI)

Afghanistan and Netherlands take on each other in the crucial tie of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Both these sides have had a similar campaign where they punched above their weights on many occasions. Afghanistan have won 3 out of their 6 matches in the tournament while the Dutch has registered two wins so far in same number of games.

Starting with Afghanistan, they have many positives already from this World Cup. This team was highly dependent on the likes of Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi to win games. But that is no more the case. Afghanistan have found an able captain in Hashmatullah Shahidi and match-winners in form of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmadand several others. Their support staff led by head coach Jonathan Trott and Ajay Jadeja have been brilliant planners. 

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One can see that Afghanistan have come into this tournament with a certain plan. They know what combinations will work for them in which conditions. For example, playing left-arm wrist spinner against Pakistan was a masterful move as Pakistanis have weakness against this kind of bowling. It is due to their dilligent planning and brilliant execution that they have beaten three top sides in the tournament including defending champions England, 1992 winners Pakistan and 1996 champions Sri Lanka. 

It’s time to go again! __ vs __

The Dutch go head to head vs Afghanistan in the #CWC23 as they look to go back to back.

Team Lineups and Toss news to come right here. #NEDvAFG

_ 3rd November 2023
_ 7.30am CEST
__ Ekana International Cricket Stadium, Lucknow pic.twitter.com/QeWXjvpjTz— Netherlands Cricket Insider (@KNCBInsider) November 3, 2023

On the other hand, Netherlands have been excellent too. They are an associate nation but they arrived in India with a view to make the semis. They are not merely looking to impress the fans. Instead, they want to reach the semi-finals and shut down the naysayers back hom. They also want to tell people in Netherlands that cricket in their country is not a matter of joke. The wins over South Africa and Bangladesh helps them achieve their target to some extent. But a win over Afghanistan today will help them massively to approach the spot in the semi-finals, however slim that chance is. 

Lucknow Weather: No rain but AQI worsens

The air quality in Lucknow where the Match no 34 of CWC 2023 is to take place between Netherlands and Afghanistan has worsened. It has dropped to ‘Very Unhealthy’ category, which is something between 150 to 250 on AQI levels. The percentage of PM 2.5 pollutant has increased in Lucknow. Playing in such a weather would be challenging for players not used to such high levels of AQI. 

As far as rain is concerned, there is zero chance of precipitation in Uttar Pradesh state captain, as per Accuweather. That means we are going to see a full match today at the beautiful Ekana cricket stadium.

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