NZ vs AFG, World Cup 2023: New Zealand wary of upbeat Afghanistan on spin-friendly Chennai; LIVE streaming and more

New Zealand will be wary of Afghanistan in their ICC World Cup fixture in Chennai on Wednesday, especially after the upsets witnessed in recent matches.

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On Tuesday, Netherlands — the lowest-ranked (14) nation among the teams participating in this year’s World Cup — stunned a South African team ranked 11 places above them on the ICC ODI chart, walking away with a 38-run win to collect their first points of the ongoing tournament.

Before that, it was Afghanistan who had shocked defending champions England by an even more dominant margin, bowling Jos Buttler’s side out for 215 after setting them a steep 285 to win at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday.

The Black Caps, who are yet to win a World Cup, will know better than to take the Afghan Atalans lightly when the two sides square off at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

New Zealand are the only unbeaten team alongside hosts India, both having won three matches each, including a nine-wicket hammering of England in the tournament opener in Ahmedabad, which helped them avenge their heartbreaking defeat in the 2019 final at Lord’s.

Afghanistan, meanwhile, started with back-to-back defeats against Bangladesh and India, but received a major confidence boost following the victory over England. Not only was it their first-ever victory over England, it was also only their second win at the ICC World Cup since they made their debut in 2015, having beaten Scotland in their maiden campaign.

New Zealand will again be led by wicketkeeper-batter Tom Latham after their charismatic skipper Kane Williamson suffered a fracture on his left thumb during the match against Bangladesh and was ruled out for a few games.

Williamson, who had missed the opening two matches — against England and the Netherlands — due to an ACL injury suffered during IPL 2023, was looking good to strike a century after being out of action for more than five months. But the skipper’s innings was cut short at 78 when he was struck on the thumb by a throw from the outfield.

Despite the huge setback, the Kiwis would be banking on their success so far to win their fourth game on the trot against an unpredictable Afghanistan, who played their guts out against England.

It would be interesting to see if pacer Tim Southee finally gets a chance against Afghanistan, having recovered from a thumb injury, though his match fitness has remained an issue.

As for the Afghanistan batting, opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the man in form, having scored 50-plus in two matches so far, while the likes of skipper Shahidi, Azmatullah Omarzai and Ikram Alikhil could come in handy as well.

While Trent Boult and Matt Henry’s searing pace will be feared by the Afghan batters, their main challenge could unexpectedly come from the spin duo of Ravindra and Mitchell Santner, with the latter being the most successful slow bowler in the competition so far.

New Zealand vs Afghanistan World Cup 2023 match date

The New Zealand vs Afghanistan Cricket World Cup match will be played on Tuesday, 18 October.

New Zealand vs Afghanistan World Cup 2023 match time

The New Zealand vs Afghanistan Cricket World Cup match will start at 2 PM IST. The toss will take place at 1.30 PM IST.

New Zealand vs Afghanistan World Cup 2023 match venue

The New Zealand vs Afghanistan Cricket World Cup match will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

New Zealand vs Afghanistan World Cup 2023 match LIVE Streaming

The New Zealand vs Afghanistan Cricket World Cup match will be broadcast live on Star Sports Network and live streaming will be available on Disney+ Hotstar.

New Zealand vs Afghanistan head-to-head

The New Zealand and Afghanistan have clashed in this format only twice with the Black Caps winning on both occasions.

Squads:

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (vc & wk), Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee and Will Young.

Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman and Naveen ul Haq.

WIth inputs from PTI