World Cup ODI 2023

NZ vs. AFG, Match 16

Preview

New Zealand will cross swords with Afghanistan in the 16th match of the World Cup ODI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday, October 18. 

New Zealand has been in dominant form and have won both their matches so far. The Kiwis are placed in the 2nd spot whereas the Afghans have managed one victory out of their three games and are sitting in the sixth place in the round-robin stage of the World Cup ODI. 

The Blackcaps played their last game against Bangladesh where they won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Bangla Tigers failed to perform well and threw away their first wicket on the very first ball of the innings. The duo of Sakib al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim kept on adding runs when the rest of the top order failed. In spite of all the efforts, the Sakib Al Hasan-led side managed to put only 245 runs on the scoreboard. New Zealand on the other side, lost an early wicket, but later fetched a comfortable victory by eight wickets. 

Afghanistan in their last match against the defending champions England registered one of the biggest upsets in the history of cricket. The Hasmatullah Shahidi-led side got off to a perfect start in the beginning with Rahmatullah Gurbaz hitting 80 runs. Though they lost their track in the middle overs but finished well in the end with 284 on the scoreboard. England lost wickets like a pack of cards. This led the Three-Headed Lions to face a humiliating defeat by 69 runs. 

Match Details

Match: World Cup ODI 2023, NZ vs AFG, Match 16

Date: Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Time: 02:00 PM IST

Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Pitch and Weather Report

The MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai has always been known for sluggish wickets and has backed the teams with better spin attacks. The average first innings score is 245 in ODI matches. 

The weather in Chennai will be mostly warm and moist. 

NZ vs. AFG Squads

NZ: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Bundell, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult, Will Young, Ish Sodhi, James Neesham, Tim Southee

AFG: Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan

NZ vs. AFG Probable Playing XIs

NZ: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (c & wk), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

AFG: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Match Prediction

Afghanistan would be flying high on confidence after their thumping win over the defending champions England. But the question is, can they make it two? New Zealand is in sublime form and this will be a different challenge for the Afghan team. The Blackcaps were the runners-up in the last season of the tournament and have been that strong this year too. Thus we fancy New Zealand to win this match.  

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