New Zealand vs Afghanistan Prediction: New Zealand enter as the overwhelming favorite

The T20 World Cup is on and the Australian scene is full of pacy tracks and the stadiums form a picturesque view. While there have been some curveballs, especially when West Indies bowed out of the tournament which was a rather downer considering their reputation. Anyway, the Associate nations keep springing up surprises regularly but will there be one when Afghanistan takes on New Zealand?

Afghanistan suffered a big defeat in the first game of the tournament, losing by five wickets and with eleven balls to spare. It wasn’t the bowling’s fault though as they were defending a paltry 112 against a loaded English batting. Their batting let them down and the highest partnership for them was just 27 runs. Nine wickets fell to pace and there is no doubt that it continues to be a challenge. Two major contributors were Ibrahim Zadran and Usman Ghani, with the former scoring 32 and the latter 30, both at run a ball. The rest of the batters combined for 43 runs with seven runs scored from extras.

Bowling-wise, Afghanistan did a fantastic job, with their spinners as usual stealing the show. Rashid Khan in his usual groove gave just 17 runs in four overs for a wicket. Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi combined for two wickets for just 37 runs in seven overs. The pace bowling wasn’t as impressive with only Fazalhaq Farooqi being cheap, giving up 24 runs in four overs. Overall, the Afghanistan bowlers did a great job of restricting the power hitters like Hales and Buttler around the strike rate of 100 while stifling Dawid Malan. At any rate, what lessons will Afghanistan learn from this? Their batting continues to be their weakness.

New Zealand had perhaps the most impressive start as they downed the hosts by an incredible 89 runs. Batting first, they blew away the Australian attack and mounted an incredible 200 runs, in what was a dramatic turnaround from the past results. Finn Allen started off hot and jumped up to 42 runs in 16 balls and the first wicket pair of Allen and Devon Conway started with 56 runs in four odd overs. The New Zealanders kept on piling the pain largely on the back of Conway who ended up not out with 92 runs in 58 balls while James Neesham’s 13-ball 26 runs innings gave the finishing touch.

It was clear that the Kiwis had all the momentum. Tim Southee began the Australian procession by getting David Warner for just five runs and it was all about the bowling then. Southee ended up with remarkable figures of three wickets for six runs while Mitchell Santner also picked up three wickets. Meanwhile, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi, and Lockie Ferguson combined for four wickets, and no bowlers even gave eight runs per over. After such a start, the Kiwis will be boosted up. Remember this is a team that hit the Finals during the last World Cup.

• Batters: New Zealand: Devon Conway: 92 runs (1 Game), Fin Allen: 42 runs(1 Game), Kane Williamson: 23 runs( 1 Game);
• Batters: Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran: 32 runs(1 Game), Usman Ghani: 30 Runs(1 Game), Mohamamd Nabi: 3 Runs(1 Game);
• Bowlers: New Zealand: Tim Southee: 3 Wickets(1 Game), Tim Southee: 2 Wickets(1 Game);
• Bowlers: Afghanistan: Rashid Khan: 1 Wicket(1 Game), Mujeeb Ur Rahman: 1 Wicket(1 Game), Mohamamd Nabi: 1 Wicket(1 Game).

The MCG track has a lot of pace and that gives New Zealand an advantage in terms of the bowling sphere as they have a loaded fast-bowling attack. The Afghanistanis are known for their spinners who can both stifle the runs and also eke out wickets. However, the New Zealand batting attack is well-adept at disposing off both spinners and seamers, and on a MCG track, they can blow away the Afghani pacers. I see a power hitting performance from the New Zelanders and win this game.