NZ vs AFG Match Preview: New Zealand and Afghanistan will clash today (18 October) in the World Cup 2023. New Zealand has been invincible so far in this World Cup. He has won all three of his matches in a one-sided manner. On the other hand, Afghanistan has defeated defending champion England after losing its first two matches.
New Zealand’s team is definitely very strong compared to Afghanistan but today the match is in Chennai, where the spinners have always got good help and the spin attack is the strongest aspect of Afghanistan. In such a situation, the competition can be tough.
What will be the nature of the pitch?
Today’s match will be played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, Chennai. Like always, even today there will be more help available to the spinners. By the way, sometimes fast bowlers have also been dominant here. In the first match of this World Cup, Australia’s fast bowlers wreaked havoc on the Indian batsmen in the initial overs. In the second match also, Kiwi fast bowlers proved fatal against Afghanistan. However, in both the matches of this World Cup, most of the wickets went to the spinners. Today’s match will be on a fresh pitch. The boundary on one side will be small and the boundary on the other side will be big.
How will the weather be?
There was light rain in Chennai a day before the match but today the weather will be clear. The temperature can go up to 32 degrees. There is less chance of dew falling at night. In such a situation, the run chase will not be easy as compared to previous matches. In the last two matches, the team batting later had won.
How could be the playing-11 of both the teams?
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Latham (captain, wicketkeeper), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Mark Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wicketkeeper), Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqui.
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