NZ vs AFG Today Match Prediction for T20 World Cup 2022 – Who Will Win New Zealand vs Afghanistan?

NZ vs AFG Today Match Prediction: After a humungous win against Australia in Sydney, New Zealand will now head to the iconic MCG to face the dark horses Afghanistan. Both these sides are quite contrasting in their genaral T20 approach and hence this proves to be an exciting match for the viewers.

New Zealand has been following a high risk approach with the bat and that has yeileded them huge rewards in the past. On the other hand, this type of batting is the same thing what the mystery Afghan spinners would love to feast on. They thrive when batsmen takes risks against them. Even, this is what helped them to stretch the English innings to 19th over despite defending a low total. Will New Zealand try out the English apprach of playing out the Afghan spinners, or will they continue with their high risk approach? Let’s find out.

NZ vs AFG Match Details

Fixture Name: New Zealand vs Afghanistan, 21st Match, Super 12 Group 1
Competition: T20 World Cup 2022
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Date and Time: October 26, 01:30 PM IST
Telecast & Live Streaming: Star Sports Network

NZ vs AFG Pitch Report

The surface in MCG is a balanced pitch. Teams are most likely to opt to chase at this venue after winning the toss.147 is the average score at this venue with the average first innings score is around 146. So, anything above the 160-165 run mark could prove to be a winning total at this venue.

RECENT FORM

New Zealand- W L W W W 
Afghanistan- L L L L W

NZ vs AFG Probable Playing XIs

NEW ZEALAND:

Finn Allen, Devon Conway(wk), Kane Williamson(c), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

AFGHANISTAN:

Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik

ENG vs AFG Probable Top Performers

Probable Best Batter

Devon Conway

Conway showed great class and composure in the first match against Australia. He played second fiddle to Allen, when Allen was going biserk from one end and then later after his dismissal, he took charge and started attacking. It is his this ability to play according to the situation that makes him such a key player for New Zealand in this T20 World Cup.

Probable Best Bowler

Rashid Khan

Without a shadow of a doubt, Rashid Khan is the bowler to put your money on in this encounter. Even at a young age, he has found a place amongst the T20 greats. Kiwis will be vary of his threat and is expected to be cautious in his four overs. If Afghanistan is to break into that explosive Kiwi batting lineup, Rashid Khan will have to play a huge role in it.

NZ vs AFG Prediction- Who Will Win Today’s Match Between NEW ZEALAND AND AFGHANISTAN

• On the batting front, New Zealand has a far more experienced and versatile batting order than Afghanistan. But historically Kiwi batters have been quite poor in handling spin.
• All the New Zealand batters have the capability to play according to the situation.
• Whereas Afghanistan’s batting is heavily dependent on Gurbaz, Zazai, and Ibrahim Zadran alone. Everyone except their openers are quite conservative in their appraoch and that style is not suited for T20 cricket.
• In Boult, Ferguson and Southee England have a better pace attack than Afghanistan.
• Whereas in the spin bowling department, Aghanistan has probably the best spin unit in the competition.
• The outcome of the match will be dependent on how well Kiwi batsmen tackle the 10-12 overs of spin from Afghanistan.
• The last time these two sides faced off against each other in a T20I match, New Zealand defeated Afghanistan by 8 wickets.

Today’s Match Prediction: NEW ZEALAND to win the match