The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 heads back to Chennai on Wednesday as the fourth set of matches in the tournament get underway when the unbeaten New Zealand look to maintain their perfect record against Afghanistan.
Afghanistan head to Chennai buoyed by a big win over England to kick their campaign into life and they will be out to back that up against a New Zealand side who have looked very impressive throughout the competition to date.
New Zealand
When the competition got underway nobody was really talking about New Zealand despite the fact that they have been to the last two finals of this tournament. Injuries were one reason for that but I think the other reason is they are not as flashy as some of the teams that were being talked about, but as we see time and again when it comes to these ICC events on different grounds and conditions a solid, professional approach often pays dividends.
That isn’t to say that New Zealand haven’t been dominant in their matches because they have. They were emphatic in wins over England, the Netherlands and Bangladesh and while you can argue over what they have beaten with England in particular being horrendous against them, you certainly can’t dispute how well they have won those matches. The tests will get harder from here on in but with three big wins in the bank the pressure has eased on the Kiwis.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan will have been disappointed with their opening two losses. They would certainly have gone into the first match against Bangladesh feeling that they could impose themselves on that game and come away with a win while hoping they could do something against India in their second one. The fact they lost both was one thing but they couldn’t get a grip on the game with the bat which would have been the frustration.
They took all of that frustration out on England in the third match where they were allowed to get off to a flyer with the bat and at no stage from there did they look back. You could argue that they still didn’t produce a complete batting performance but in these conditions, with their spin attack, they don’t need to be posting too much above a par score to be competitive. The big thing for them now is to ensure they are back down to earth and ready to go again against arguably a tougher challenge at present.
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Team News
New Zealand will be forced into a change for this match as their captain Kane Williamson has injured himself again. That means they are likely to bring Will Young back in and revert to the batting order they had in their opening two matches. Ish Sodhi could come in should this look a typical Chennai pitch.
Given the way that Afghanistan won against England in their last match they are expected to go in with an unchanged line up unless someone has picked up a knock or an illness in the lead up to the game which hasn’t been revealed.
Betting
I would be surprised if New Zealand don’t win this match but there has been a fair amount of disruption in their camp with Kane Williamson going down again and if there is one place in India where you probably wouldn’t want to take on Afghanistan it is probably Chennai where the heat is going to be sauna like and the pitch is likely to be dry and take turn. To be fair, New Zealand adjust to conditions probably better than any team in the competition but there is no doubt that Afghanistan will be more comfortable in these surroundings than they would be on a flat track or a seaming paradise.
The good thing for New Zealand is that two of their star players in Devon Conway and Mitchell Santner have this as their home ground in the Indian Premier League and it might be that is the difference but I do think Afghanistan will be competitive here, especially if their middle order can come to the party. They are getting 5.5 wickets or 39.5 runs on the handicap which feels like a lot when they can bowl 30 overs of world class spin. I expect New Zealand to win but Afghanistan can certainly run them close here.
Tips
Back Afghanistan (+5.5wickets/39.5runs) to beat New Zealand for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
