WHO: New Zealand vs Afghanistan
That: ICC Males’s T20 World Cup 2024 Group C Match
When: Friday, June 7, 7:30 p.m. native time (11:30 p.m. GMT)
The place: Windfall Stadium, Georgetown, Guyana
How you can comply with: Al Jazeera can have dwell textual content protection of the match from 4:30 p.m. (20:30 GMT).
New Zealand lastly start their T20 World Cup marketing campaign in Friday night time’s conflict in Guyana, as they tackle a talented Afghanistan group in considered one of Group C’s most difficult matches.
Afghanistan started their match with a thumping 125-run victory over Uganda on the similar venue on Tuesday.
A victory in opposition to the Kiwis would put them in pole place for qualification for the Tremendous 8 section of a bunch that additionally consists of the West Indies, co-hosts of this version with the US, and Papua New Guinea.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is aware of the problem Afghanistan may current them, particularly their bowling unit, led by world-renowned leg-spinner Rashid Khan.
“They have a really skilful group, among the finest bowling assaults within the competitors,” Williamson informed reporters. “And we’ve seen that in franchise competitions: the participation, the variety of Afghan gamers. “They’re getting higher and higher.”
Six months in the past, on the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India, Afghanistan completed sixth within the 10-team competitors, above defending champion England. Their fearless model of cricket makes Afghanistan one of many darkish horses of the T20 match.
“There may be increasingly more high-level cricket. And within the final World Cup we noticed how sturdy they had been additionally within the one-day worldwide format. So (they’ve) a really succesful group and a variety of threats,” Williamson added.
After their match in opposition to Afghanistan, the Kiwis face one of many favorites, the West Indies. Masters of the artwork of match play, at the least till the tip, the Black Caps have reached the semi-finals in 4 of the eight T20 World Cups and misplaced the 2021 remaining to neighbors Australia.
Afghanistan seeks T20 revenge after ODI World Cup disappointment
Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott believes his group has a bonus going into Friday’s match, having performed yet another recreation than the Kiwis, who’re among the many final groups to begin their marketing campaign.
“I feel we noticed within the World Cup for over 50s that we will compete with any group on the earth. And that is our philosophy right here,” Trott stated when requested if his group has the firepower to beat New Zealand.
“So each recreation we play, we hope to place ourselves in a successful place. Or battle to win each recreation.
“New Zealand [are] an excellent group, an excellent group in all codecs of the sport and [have] good match winners at your disposal. Taking part in New Zealand is all the time a tricky recreation and I am wanting ahead to the sport, however we performed them within the 50-over World Cup the place they beat us. So hopefully we may give them one again and stage up,” he added.
Subject and climate situations.
The sector at Windfall Stadium in Guyana has offered a wide range of situations. The West Indies gained the primary match there by beating Papua New Guinea by 5 wickets, in a nervous chase of 137.
Nonetheless, the subsequent match noticed a greater batting efficiency as Afghanistan smashed 183 and ultimately beat Uganda by 125 runs. The following contest was a low-scoring thriller as Uganda chased down a goal of simply 78 runs, sealing a three-wicket victory over Papua New Guinea.
Trott stated it will be troublesome to foretell what a good whole could be on the floor.
“Definitely after [Papua New Guinea vs Uganda] You are probably not positive, so I would not need to sit right here and provides a quantity as a result of the sphere we may play is totally completely different,” Trott stated.
“I believed what we did was pitch rather well in our first recreation and we’ll look to duplicate that, as a result of I do not assume the sphere will likely be a lot completely different however, whether it is, we have to adapt and our guys will likely be prepared for that.”
Earlier than the sport, a storm is forecast to hit Georgetown on the morning of the sport, however there’s solely a 30 p.c likelihood of rain throughout the night recreation hours.
Face to face
New Zealand and Afghanistan have solely met as soon as in T20 internationals, with the Kiwis successful by 8 wickets throughout their 2021 encounter.
Form
New Zealand drew their five-match T20 collection with Pakistan 2-2 in April after one of many video games was washed out. Earlier than that, they misplaced 3-0 of their residence collection in opposition to Australia.
Afghanistan defeated Uganda of their first World Cup match, whereas earlier than the match, they gained 2-1 in a three-match collection in opposition to Eire in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Afghanistan: WWWLW
New Zealand: LWWLL
New Zealand Group Information
The Black Caps will likely be boosted by the return of their captain Williamson and opener Devon Conway.
Gear: Kane Williamson (captain), Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee.
Afghanistan Group Information
Afghanistan haven’t revealed any particulars concerning the damage considerations forward of the match.
Gear: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan (captain), Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.