Friday and Saturday's Cricket World Cup predictions and cricket betting tips

Where to watch

Pakistan v Netherlands
Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 9.30am Friday

Bangladesh v Afghanistan
Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 6am Saturday

Best bet

Scott Edwards top Netherlands runscorer v Pakistan
Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 9.30am Friday
1pt 9-2 Betfair, Paddy Power

Afghanistan to hit more sixes v Bangladesh
Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 6am Saturday
4pts 5-6 bet365

Cricket World Cup predictions

The Netherlands qualified for the World Cup thanks to a stunning Super Over victory over the West Indies and an excellent run-chase against Scotland at July's ICC Qualifier in Zimbabwe.

The hard work starts now for the Dutch, who begin their campaign against a Pakistan side fancied to go well despite the pressures of playing in a tournament hosted by rivals India.

Pakistan's fast bowlers are among the best in the business and left-armer Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf are capable of dismantling the Netherlands' top order.

The Dutch staggered to 91-9 from 20 overs against Pakistan in last year's T20 World Cup in Perth, where Scott Edwards was the second-highest runscorer of the innings with 15.

Captain, wicketkeeper and key batsman Edwards could have a big role to play in Hyderabad if, as expected, Pakistan take early wickets.

He scored 72 not out, 78 and 64 in three innings against England in June 2022 and helped the Netherlands make a strong start to their qualifying campaign with knocks of 83, 67 not out, 67 and 67 not out in his first four innings in Zimbabwe.

Bangladesh take on Afghanistan in Saturday's early game in Dharamshala and the Afghans have improved significantly since the 2019 World Cup, where they lost all nine of their matches.

Spinners Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman can cause problems for a Bangladesh batting unit still reliant on Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, two veterans of their 2007 World Cup campaign.

Afghanistan beat the Tigers 2-1 in July's ODI series in Bangladesh, hitting 13 sixes to their hosts' three. Exciting young opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz cleared the ropes nine times in his century in Tuesday's warm-up win over Sri Lanka and the Afghans, with big hitters all the way down their batting order, should be backed to hit more sixes than their opponents.

Click for more free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.