ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Match Prediction 2023 | Match 16 | New Zealand vs Afghanistan – Will the Kiwis be able to pick up a fourth consecutive victory in the tournament? | Oct, 18

NZ vs AFG Match Analysis

Afghanistan has officially arrived at the 2023 ICC World Cup, and what an entrance! They won their opening match of the competition by decisively defeating the defending champions England in Delhi. With this victory, Afghanistan has moved up to sixth place in the standings. On October 18, they will face New Zealand in the MA Chidambaram Stadium, which will be a more difficult task.

In 2019, New Zealand advanced to the final before losing on a boundary count-back following a draw and a super over decider. They’ve had a great start to the season, with three wins in a row, and they should be too powerful with both bat and ball for Afghanistan. With six points from three games and a net run rate of 1.604, the Kiwis are comfortably in second place on the table and have not yet lost.

NZ vs AFG Team Preview & Squads

New Zealand

During this ODI World Cup, New Zealand appears to be focused. They’ve had three victories in a row and have displayed the qualities of a well-rounded team. Without exerting much effort, they defeated Bangladesh, the Netherlands, and England. They now want to keep up their winning streak.  

The team’s opening player, Devon Conway, has been in superb form. In three games, he scored 229 runs at an average of 114 and a strike rate of 104. Conway has extensive experience playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL on this surface, so we anticipate another significant performance from him in this match.

Matt Henry, who has eight wickets in three games with an economy of 4.23, has been the standout performer for New Zealand’s bowling unit. On this pitch, Mitchell Santner is the only bowler who can be effective. Eight wickets have already been taken by the left-arm spinner, who will undoubtedly cause trouble for the Afghan hitters in this match.

New Zealand Squads

New Zealand

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

Afghanistan

Afghanistan just pulled off the biggest upset of all time. By resoundingly defeating the current world champions, England, by 69 runs in a brilliant exhibition of spin and seam bowling under the lights in Delhi, they achieved their most famous triumph in the annals of international sport and pulled off the first significant upset of the 2023 World Cup.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz, a 21-year-old power-hitter who blazed his way to 80 runs from 57 deliveries, laying the groundwork for their hegemony with his daring power-hitting. Later, in his first World Cup game of the year, Ikram Alikhil led Afghanistan’s bottom order with an important 50-run innings, helping the team to an impressive total of 284.

The spinners from Afghanistan will excel on this pitch. Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Mohammad Nabi will be very helpful in this situation because of the slow turn and bounce. In the preceding match against England, which was also played on a similar surface, the three split 8 wickets between them. Therefore, we anticipate that all three will play a significant role in this match as well.

Afghanistan Squads

Afghanistan

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

NZ vs AFG outfield report

    MA Chidambaram Stadium Chennai

In both World Cup games played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the team batting second won. The team that wins the coin toss will almost certainly field first.

Most of the time, Chennai will experience warm, humid weather.

Teams that batted first in the two tournament matches played in Chennai produced totals of 199 and 245-9. Following the initial few overs, the chasing sides successfully completed the target. If the pitch doesn’t change, this game can end with a scoreless draw. A winning goal might be in the range of 270–280.

NZ vs AFG Head-to-Head Stats of Last 5 Matches

Afghanistan and New Zealand have met twice so far, with the Kiwis winning both matches.

New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Prediction

Winning the toss

• New Zealand

Player of the Match

• New Zealand– Devon Conway

Most runs

• New Zealand– Devon Conway
• Afghanistan– Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Most wickets

• New Zealand– Trent Boult
• Afghanistan– Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Most sixes

• New Zealand– Devon Conway
• Afghanistan– Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Team Scores Batting First

• New Zealand– 280+
• Afghanistan– 260+

According to cricket analysts, New Zealand has a 76.2% chance to win.

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