Netherlands have won the toss and elected to bat against Afghanistan in a pivotal game to both sides' semi-finals hopes at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow today.

Afghanistan have beaten big sides in this tournament to open up a chance to make the semis. They have six points from six games and are sixth in the standings, just below Pakistan. The Netherlands have four points with two wins.

Afghanistan have gone for a four-pronged spin attack as Noor Ahmed replaces pacer Naveen-ul-Haq.

Roelof van der Merwe and Saqib Zulfiqar have come in for the Netherlands, replacing Shariz Ahmad and Vikramjit Singh in the playing eleven.

A fourth victory here for Afghanistan would have them draw level on eight points with both Australia and New Zealand in third and fourth place, and firmly in the mix for a spot in the knockout stages.

Netherlands XI: Max O'Dowd, Wesley Barresi, Colin Ackermann, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Bas de Leede, Saqib Zulfiqar, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren

Afghanistan XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wk) Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi