T20 World Match Prediction: New Zealand Versus Afghanistan 40th Match. Who Will Win?

When Afghanistan take on New Zealand in their final match of Group B, there will be more than just Afghanistan fans cheering them on to success. We enter the final round of games with New Zealand, Afghanistan, and India all still able to claim the final spot in the semi-finals alongside England, Australia, and Pakistan. So, who will go on to win this all-important match? Keep on reading to find out our prediction.

New Zealand Team Preview

There is a lot of hype surrounding this game due to how big it is, and New Zealand have done really well to stay focused and they are going to need all this focus when out on the field on Sunday. The majority of the fans in the stadium will be cheering Afghanistan to win, so this is something that the New Zealand players will have to deal with.

New Zealand are in the best spot out of Afghanistan and India because they have their destiny in their own hands - they know that any type of win will set up a semi-final match against England. A win for the Kiwis here will add one more feather in the cap of what has been a very good run at big ICC events. They lost the 2019 World Cup final to England by the slimmest of margin and then won the first ever World Test Championship.

New Zealand's opening pair of Daryl Mitchell and Martin Guptill are second to not many and then they have a strong middle order with the likes of Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, and Glenn Phillips. When it comes to bowling, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, and Mitchell Santner have been very good.

Overall, the Kiwis will enter this game as favourites, but they will need to be wary of Afghanistan. If New Zealand can get on top of Afghanistan's spinners, then they should easily win this match.

Afghanistan Team Preview

Afghanistan has played well in this competition, but that heavy defeat to India could come back to bite them in this match. If Afghanistan win, there is still a very good chance that they will not make it to the semi-finals because of India's better Net Run Rate, but if they lose they are definitely out, so they will look to win and then hope that India somehow lose their final group game.

Afghanistan started the tournament in great fashion, but they have not been helped by injuries. Mujeeb Ur Rahman was bowling really well, and his absence has been strongly felt. We do not yet know if he will be fit enough for this match against New Zealand, but they will be hoping he is so that their bowling unit has all bases covered.

On paper, this Afghanistan team has all that you need to be a very good T20I team. With the likes of Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Mohammad Shahzad, they have a really god top order that can demolish many bowling units on their day. They also have depth in their batting thanks to Mohammad Nabi and Glubadin Naib.

The only thing that they will be concerned about is their fourth and fifth bowlers, which is something that they have not been able to work out since Mujeeb got injured. Overall, Afghanistan will enter this game as underdogs, but if they play to the best of their ability, they will have every chance of walking away with two points that could, albeit unlikely, see them qualify for the semi-finals.

Toss Prediction

The captain that wins the toss will likely opt to bat first, despite the fact that out of the 12 matches that have been played in Abu Dhabi, seven of them have been won by the team batting second. However, we think the winning captain will want to get runs on the board and then put their opponents under a lot of pressure in the second half of the match.

Pitch Conditions

The wicket at Abu Dhabi has been a sporting one. The batsmen have been able to score runs, while the bowlers have also got a bit of help from the surface. The average first innings score at this venue is 145, so the team that bats first will look to score around 160 to put pressure on their opponents.

Our Match Predictions

One important thing in this match will be the surface - a good wicket will give New Zealand the advantage, while a slow surface will give the advantage to Afghanistan. New Zealand have plenty of experience, but it will still be interesting to see how they go about handling the spin. On the other hand, Afghanistan have done really well and have nothing to lose from the match and everything to potentially gain. Considering this and the odds that are on offer, it makes perfect sense to put your money on Afghanistan to win this match.

Our match prediction: