The 16th match of the tournament will be played between New Zealand (NZ) and Afghanistan (AFG) in Chennai.
New Zealand are currently standing in 2nd place (1.604) with 6 points in 3 matches whereas Afghanistan is standing at 6th place (-0.652) with 2 points in 3 matches.
New Zealand (NZ) Analysis:
Kiwis started their journey with 3 wins in 3 matches and in all the matches they showed their full domination. They won their first match against England by 9 wickets, second they won against Netherlands by 99 runs and lastly they won against Bangladesh by 8 wickets.
Devon Conway is using his experience in the Indian pitches very well and scored 229 runs in 3 matches including a brilliant century in the opening match against England. The match will be held in Chennai and he played for CSK (Chennai Super Kings) in the IPL and he will return to his franchise hometown and is predominantly waiting for a great performance. Will Young played a solid innings against Netherlands but missed the next match against Bangladesh since Kane Williamson returned to the playing 11.
Kane Willamson returned to the last match against Bangladesh and played a brilliant knock of 78 runs but unfortunately due to his thumb injury he had to retire out and will miss the match against Afghanistan. Will Young is expected to be his replacement. Rachin Ravindra got a chance to open in the last match but did not play a significant knock and got out early but still he scored 183 runs in 3 matches which includes 1 century and 1 half century.
Daryl Mitchell showed his great innings against the Bengal Tigers where he scored 89 runs with a strike rate of 132.84. Till now in the World Cup he scored 137 runs. Glenn Phillips is a great finisher of the team and always played hard hitting in the death overs. But in this tournament he impressed more with the ball than the bat as he took 3 wickets till now.
Tom Latham will again be seen leading the team in the absence of Williamson. He also got his rhythm back as he hit a half century against the Dutch team and looked confident with the shot selection. Mark Chapman didn’t get much time to show his skill. He only batted against Netherlands where he scored 5 runs only. He also finishes off the thing well.
Mitchell Santner got 8 wickets till now in the World Cup and is currently 2nd in the list of wicket takers. Also he showed his brilliancy with the bat where against Dutch he scored a rocket fire innings of 36 runs in 17 balls. Matt Henry also supported him well and took equal wickets as Santner. He is consistent with the line and length and hard to give any runs easily.
Lockie Ferguson after making his comeback in the national side provided a match winning spell against Bangladesh. He tampers the batters with his short ball and batsmen find it difficult to play after the ball comes with a sheer pace. Trent Boult took 3 wickets till now in the tournament. Definitely a death maker in the starting and the death overs with his spell. Ish Sodhi might join the team ahead of the match since the Chennai pitch is usually spin friendly and it will definitely suit him here.
Predicted 11 for the Match:
Tom Latham (c/wk), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Matt Henry.
Afghanistan (AFG) Analysis:
An incredible way to start their World Cup win which comes in their last match and that too against the defending champion, England. They ended their 14 match losing streak in the World Cup and won the match by 69 runs. Although they lost their starting two matches, first against Bangladesh by 6 wickets and then against India by 8 wickets.
Afghans most successful batter in the tournament is Rahmanullah Gurbaz who scored 148 runs in 3 matches. He was the main reason behind the destructive start against the English team where he scored 80 runs in just 57 balls. Ibrahim Zadran supported him well but he failed to convert his innings into a big one. He started well but later on he didn’t survive much longer.
Rahmat Shah, one of the most experienced guys in the team is still searching for his great knock. He scored just 18,16 and 3 till now in the three matches. Hashmatullah Shahidi the skipper of the team batted well in the middle order and against India where he took his team out from danger and scored 80 runs. Azmatullah Omarzai who is now going higher up the order for batting is playing well and also against India he batted brilliantly and scored 62 runs.
Ikram Alikhil played his first World Cup match against England and scored a superb half century and took his team to a competitive total. He was also doing the keeping for his team. Mohammad Nabi used his experience in the last match and got the wicket of the inform batsman Dawid Malan. He is a clever guy and knows how to deal in tough situations and also can contribute with the bat also. Najibullah Zadran is usually not good with the bat and got out cheaply due to which he was replaced by Ikram in the last match.
Rashid Khan the highest wicket taker and the most experienced guy in the squad has taken 5 wickets till now and a destructive batsman in the death overs. He can change the run rate easily with his hard hitting skills. Mujeeb Ur Rahman the man who finally gets the credit for his all round performance in the last match due to which his team won that match and he was awarded with Player of the Match. He scored 28 runs in just 16 balls and in his bowling he got 3 wickets.
Fazalhaq Farooqi is bowling brilliantly in the opening overs and confuses the batters with his swing in the initial overs. Naveen-ul-Haq had some expensive spells but in the middle overs he can disturb the batters easily but with the later half on the match he lost his touch and was beaten easily.
Predicted 11 for the Match:
Hashmatullah Shahidi ©, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Pitch Report and Weather Report:
The match will be played at M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The pitch will intend towards the slow bowlers and the wrist spinner will be effective here. As the match will progress the pitch will be slow and due to humidity the later half will be challenging to bat on.
The weather on the match day is expected to be sunny as 32 degree celsius in the daytime while 26 degree celsius during evening. The humidity will be around more than 70 percent which will definitely cause batters hard to bat in the second innings.
Head to head (NZ vs AFG) in the World Cup:
They played 2 matches against each other in the World Cup.
| NZ | AFG | |
| Matches won | 2 | 0 |
| Highest score | 188 | 186 |
| Lowest score | 173 | 172 |
Best 11 for the Match:
Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Daryl Mitchell, Ibram Zadram, Mohammad Nabi, Mitchell Santner, Rachin Ravindra, Matt Henry, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.