New Delhi: After pulling off the heist of the century, the Afghanistan cricket team will be looking to repeat their historic performance against the runner-ups from the 2019 World Cup New Zealand on Wednesday at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
Afghanistan will back itself against the Black Caps today as they will be playing at Cheepauk’s spin-friendly pitch, which suits Afghanistan’s playing style.
Afghanistan vs New Zealand ?? Who win
What you think 🧐 Big Upset is loading here comment now !!#AFGvsNZ #NZvAFG #NEDvsSA #SAvNED #CWC23 #ICCWorldCup pic.twitter.com/qsLMynWf5t
— SportsCricket (@SportsCricket07) October 18, 2023
Journey so far
NEW ZEALAND VS AFGHANISTANTODAY MATCH PREDICTION
Afghanistan achieved great success when they won against defending champions England in Delhi. This was Afghanistan’s first victory at the ICC World Cup 2023 and took them to sixth place on the points table. pic.twitter.com/CksDiifQl6— Fatima Smith (@FatimaSmit52079) October 18, 2023
Afghanistan started their journey with two back-to-back losses against Bangladesh and India by 6 and 8 wickets, respectively. However, the ultimate underdogs bounced back in style with a huge 69-run win against the defending champions, England and made the statement that they are not a team to be taken lightly.
Aghani team is riding high with their openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadaran setting the stage for the middle order to bat freely, and in the end, some handful cameos from players like Rashid and Mujeeb are keeping their batting afloat, while in the bowling division, the spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rehman and Mohammad Nabi shared 8 of the 10 wickets in their last match against England proving why they are top picks in tournaments all around the world, also the pacer Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi giving the much-needed support by picking some early wickets.
On the other hand, New Zealand is going on a rampage in the tournament by winning three out of their three matches and is only the second team besides the hosts India to be still undefeated after three matches in the tournament.
New Zealand has won all their three matches against England, Netherlands and Bangladesh by 9 wickets, 99 runs and 8 wickets, respectively, in a swift manner and has presented themselves as one of the favourites to win the tournament.
The Kiwi’s batting is led by their openers Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, who are in tremendous forms with one century and one half-century under their belt. The lower and middle order are yet to be tested as the top order majorly gets the job done for them.
In bowling, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry and Trent Boult are proving them with early strikes, while spinners like Mitchell Santner are keeping the game tight by bowling economical spells in the middle.
The biggest setback for New Zealand will be the unavailability of their captain Kane Williamson, who, after missing the first two matches due to injury, played a crucial knock of 78 in the third match before getting retired hurt due to a thumb fracture, his unavailability will be a huge loss for the Kiwis as Williamson is not only an effective batsman but is also a leader of the true manner.
X-Ray confirms undisplaced fracture to Kane Williamson’s left thumb.
– He will be with the squad aiming to be available for next month. pic.twitter.com/SvACaehhj9
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 14, 2023
Head-to-head records
Afghanistan next two matches at CWC 2023 :
• Vs New Zealand on 18th October
• Vs Pakistan on 23rd October pic.twitter.com/0Q9JcSpJny— 🅒🅡🅘︎🅒︎🄲🅁🄰🅉🅈𝗠𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗨™ 🇮🇳❤️ (@MSDianMrigu) October 15, 2023
Interestingly, Afghanistan and New Zealand have met each other two times in ODI cricket, and both were World Cup matches. The first time was in the 2015 World Cup, where New Zealand won by 6 wickets and the other time in the 2019 World Cup, where once again, the black caps came out victorious by 7 wickets.
However, New Zealand should not make the mistake of judging the current Afghanistan team on their history, as this team is far more mature and is capable enough to pull yet another upset in ICC World Cup 2023.
