New Zealand will be eyeing to book its semifinals spot in the ICC men’s T20 World Cup when they meet Afghanistan in a Super 12 group 2 match at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, on November 7. What makes this match interesting for the Indian cricket team and the fans is that if Afghanistan manages to beat New Zealand, India have a chance to qualify for the semis. However, if the result is the opposite, India will crash out of the tournament.

Winning the toss, Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi said: “We will bat first. It was a night game in Abu Dhabi, so we bowled first. It’s a day game, so we want to post a decent total on the board. Mujeeb is back, he is in the team. We will try our best and try to win.”

Losing the toss, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said: “We were going to have a bat as well, it’s a used surface. I think both sides have match winners and it’s a mix of youth and experience. We are playing with the same team, no changes.”

Playing XI (from):

New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson(c), Devon Conway(w), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad(w), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi(c), Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Pitch report

The pitch report said that the 22 yards is going to be slow and is the same pitch that was used yesterday for the Australia vs West Indies T20 match.

The pitch also has a few cracks that will make the batting a bit challenging. This is the third match that will be played on this pitch.

What players said ahead of the match:

“We’re really aware of the strengths that Afghanistan bring both with the bat and the ball, especially in the spin bowling attack. If we get the basics right for a long enough period of time, keep doing the things we’ve been doing well, I think we’ll give ourselves a good chance” New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi spoke about his team’s chances.

“About the team campaign, we only focus on ourselves, our team. Our main focus is how we qualify for semifinals. So we will go with that,” Afghanistan’s Hashmatullah Shahidi said.