Fantasy Preview: New Zealand vs Afghanistan, T20 World Cup 2024, Match 14 | ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, 2024

Recent form (most recent game first)

New Zealand – LWWLL

Afghanistan – WWWLW

Head to head

New Zealand and Afghanistan have played one T20I against each other in the 2021 T20 World Cup where New Zealand emerged victorious.

Location data

Guyana National Stadium, Guyana

Average total in the first inning: 150. Since last year it was 164.

Bat 1st/2nd split: Chasing teams have won nine of 14 matches

Pace versus spin distribution: economy 8.5 versus 7, strike rate 18.7 versus 20.2 since 2023

Weather conditions

Rain is forecast for the match during the evening, and there is a good chance it will be a shortened match.

Players to watch out for

Kane Williamson

Williamson comes into this tournament having played just two T20Is since 2023 and just four T20s in total. The last time he had a strike rate above 120 in a calendar year was in 2020. Therefore, there will be big questions about his form for the game. However, on a slow track you need your best batsman to hit the heavy overs. The Kiwis will hope that Williamson can do that without any major problems.

Finn Allen

Allen is the X-factor that can boost the team’s prospects at the World Cup. In the 2022 edition, he scored at a strike rate of 186.3 despite averaging just 19. His quick starts would again be crucial for New Zealand as he bats alongside Devon Conway and Kane Williamson, who are not the are the fastest hitters.

Gulbadin Naib

With an overall T20 strike rate of 131.4, he is one of the best ball-strikers in the Afghan side. This year, he has scored at 159.03 in the five T20Is he has played for Afghanistan this year, including two quick fifties against India in January.

He also has a career bowling economy of 8.19, and his wily, slow, medium pace can be more than useful in the Caribbean, as he can sneak in a few quiet overs in the middle overs by enticing batters to move against him to go.

Important battles

Daryl Mitchell vs. Rashid Khan

Mitchell is known for his batting ability against spinners who deflect the ball away from him. Among Afghan spinners, Rashid is the only one who does that. The Kiwi batsman has scored 25 runs in 12 balls against him at a strike rate of 208.3 in T20Is.

Cricket.com’s proposed Fantasy XI

Kane Williamson (c), Daryl Mitchell (vc), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Devon Conway, Ibrahim Zadran, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, James Neesham, Karim Janat, Trent Boult, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Probably playing XI

New Zealand: Devon Conway, Finn Allen (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, Noor Ahmed, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Streaming and broadcast details

The match will start at 5:00 AM IST and will be telecast and aired on Star Sports and Disney plus Hotstar respectively.