Pitch and weather: Nabi, who has played for Melbourne Renegades in the BBL, said he has never seen an MCG pitch so green. “Yes, at that time in Big Bash, it was drier,” Nabi said on Tuesday. “The ball swings early on for one or two overs, but after that, it will be a little bit slower, [some] help for spinners, and the ball won’t swing that much.
“But here the pitch is new and also a little bit green. as well, and also the weather is cold.” If the India-Pakistan game was anything to go by, there could be some early swing, which would pique the interest of Farooqi and Boult. Both Afghanistan and New Zealand will have the benefit of watching what unfolds in the game prior to theirs, with Ireland facing England first up in the afternoon. There is an 80% chance of rain on Wednesday, according to the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology.
New Zealand vs Afghanistan Highlights today. 21st Match, Group 1 (N), Melbourne Cricket Ground, Wednesday 26-10-2022, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
Toss: ?
New Zealand team: 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway (wk), 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 James Neesham, 6 Daryl Mitchell, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Ish Sodhi, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Tim Southee/Adam Milne, 11 Lockie Ferguson
Afghanistan team: 1 Hazratullah Zazai, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Ibrahim Zadran, 4 Usman Ghani, 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Mohammad Nabi (capt), 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Azmatullah Omarzai, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq/Fareed Ahmad, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi
Head to Head In T20I’s: 1
New Zealand Won: 1
Afghanistan Won: 0
New Zealand T20I Rankings: 5th
Afghanistan T20I Rankings: 10th
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 Points Table
Form guide
(last five completed Tests, most recent first)
New Zealand WLWWW
Afghanistan LLLLW
Match Timings: 08:00 AM GMT | 07:00 PM Local
Umpires – Kumar Dharmasena, Paul Wilson
TV Umpire – Adrian Holdstock
Match Referee – Ranjan Madugalle
Reserve Umpire – Paul Reiffel
Match number – T20I no. 1847
Match abandoned without a ball bowled.
