Kane Williamson-led NZ will cross swords with Nabi-led Afghanistan in match 21 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The fixture will be held at Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26th October, starting at 1:30 PM Indian Standard Time.
NZ registered a thumping victory a couple of days ago when they were up against the reigning champions, AUS. The Kiwis, riding on the back of sublime performances from Conway, Tim Southee and Mitchell Santner, thrashed the hosts by 89 runs at the SCG.
With a massive win, their confidence must have taken a leap forward. NZ have an exceptional squad to tackle any situation. Moreover, their players are unleashing their best performance and will be raring to show another all-around effort as they come head-to-head with AFG.
On the other side, Afghanistan will be hoping to get a win as they have already lost their opening fixture against England. Mohammad Nabi and Co, though, kept the game alive till the last moment, but it was the Englishmen who eventually won the low-scoring match. Despite that, the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz would fancy their chances against the Kiwis.
New Zealand vs Afghanistan Melbourne Pitch Report:
Certainly, MCG isn’t a very high-scoring venue because of its long boundaries. It takes extra effort to put the delivery on the aerial trajectory and successfully put that over the boundary cushions. The surface provides good help to the seamers upfront with consistent movement. However, it gets comparatively easier to bat on as the match progresses. A contest in the vicinity of 160-170 can be anticipated.
New Zealand vs Afghanistan Playing11 Probable:
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell/Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi and Trent Boult.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Rashid Khan, Fareed Malik, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen ul Haq/Azmatullah Omarzai.
