New Zealand vs Afghanistan Cricket World Cup 2023: Expected lineups, head-to-head, toss, predictions and betting odds
New Zealand and Afghanistan will go head-to-head in the teams' fourth match of the 2023 World Cup in Chennai on Wednesday, 18 October.
The Kiwis have won all three of their matches so far in convincing fashion against England, Netherlands and Bangladesh with the latest one also having been played in Chennai last Friday.
Afghanistan lost their first match against Bangladesh before bearing the brunt of a whirlwind innings from Rohit Sharma that helped India chase 273 in 35 overs. In their last match, however, they hit back to upset England with a fully deserved 69-run win.
New Zealand vs Afghanistan: Predicted line-up
PredictedXIforNew Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham (c & wk), Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
PredictedXIforAfghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Azamtullah Omarzai, Ikram Ali Khil, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq.
New Zealand vs Afghanistan: Head-to-head in ODIs
These two sides have met only twice in ODIs, with New Zealand winning both meetings.
New Zealand vs Afghanistan: Toss
The toss will happen at 1:30 PM IST. Electing to chase could be beneficial, as both chasing sides in this tournament at this venue have won comfortably. Australia took three wickets in two overs against India before getting only one more in the next 40, while Bangladesh could only take two against New Zealand.
New Zealand vs Afghanistan: Weather forecast in Chennai
The weather forecast for Wednesday in Chennai suggests a high of 32 degrees in the afternoon and a low of 29 degrees in the evening. 7% chances of rain are predicted a few hours before the match start time, but dip to almost 0% later on.
New Zealand vs Afghanistan: Prediction for CWC 2023 match
The pitch at the MA Chidambaram stadium tends to be quite slow, and assists turn. Afghanistan's spinners are among the best in the competition, so if they get to bowl first there are chances this could go their way.
That being said, New Zealand are one of the most complete sides in the competition, and have had different players perform at different stages, meaning anyone is capable of stepping up and winning a game on a given day. On paper, the Kiwis are clear favourites but especially thanks to the win over England, Afghanistan cannot be ruled out at any cost.
New Zealand vs Afghanistan: Betting odds for CWC 2023 match
The Dafabet odds indicate that New Zealand are favourites to win this match, but Afghanistan are not entirely unfancied.
