Team: New Zealand vs Afghanistan
Venue: Chepauk (M.A. Chidambaram) Stadium, Chennai
Time: October 18 at 2pm
New Zealand will clash with Afghanistan at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday at 2pm. The Kiwis are the only team, other than hosts India, who are unbeaten in the first three matches of ICC ODI World Cup 2023. On the other hand, Afghanistan, who were earlier dismissed as underdogs, are hoping to repeat their shocking victory against England when they return to the pitch.
New Zealand, in the inaugural match of this year's tournament, beat England by nine wickets at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad. Then they crushed the Dutch by 99 runs at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad before defeating Bangladesh by eight wickets in Chennai. And while returning to the same pitch they played their previous match, New Zealand might have a few tricks up their sleeve.
Despite their losses against Bangladesh and India, Afghanistan have proved that they are not to be under-estimated after defeating former champions England by 69 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium (formerly Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium) in Delhi.
Previous World Cup clashes
New Zealand and Afghanistan locked horns twice in the previous editions of the ICC ODI World Cup.
In 2015, the Kiwis won by six wickets in New Zealand's Napier sports ground and in 2019, they beat Afghanistan by seven wickets in England's Taunton county ground.
Weather forecast
The afternoon temperature in Chennai will be about 33°C, according to AccuWeather. The forecast predicts 67 per cent humidity when the match starts. The temperature is expected to be around 29°C in the evening with a humidity of 79 per cent.
Pitch report
The MA Chidambaram Stadium, popularly known as the Chepauk Stadium, is known to favour spinners and Afghanistan will try to take advantage of this. Their spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi, who claimed eight of England's wickets between the three of them recently, could prove to be a nightmare for the Kiwis on Wednesday. The Black Caps will also hope to reap some Afghan wickets with their spin duo Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi.
In the two previous matches at Chepauk, teams that batted second, one of them being New Zealand, won both games. The other team, who batted second at this stadium were hosts India whose spinners crushed five-time world champions Australia by bowling them out for just 199. Both teams will be hoping to bat second, to take advantage of the dew.
The official pitch report will be released before the toss.
Teams
With Kiwis captain Kane Williamson suffering a thumb injury, Tom Latham will be donning the skipper's cap once again.
New Zealand Playing XI (probable): Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (captain/wicketkeeper), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson and Trent Boult.
Afghanistan Playing XI (probable): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicketkeeper), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil. Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi.