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After waiting for almost a week, New Zealand finally get their ICC T20 World Cup up and running against Afghanistan, who laid down a marker with a thumping 125-run win over Uganda on Tuesday.
DATE & TIME: Friday 7th June, 2024: USA (WST) – 4:30pm / USA (CST) – 6:30pm / USA (EST) – 7:30pm / Guyana – 7:30pm / Saturday 8th June, 2024: UK – 12:30am / India – 5:00am / South Africa – 1:30am / Pakistan – 4:30am / India – 9:30am / Bangladesh – 5:30am / Australia – 9:30am
VENUE: Guyana National Stadium, Providence, Guyana, West Indies
WEATHER: Warm and cloudy conditions with a chance of thundery showers during the scheduled hours play.
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: USA – Willow TV / West Indies – ESPN Caribbean / UK – Sky Sports / South Africa – SuperSport / Pakistan – PTV Sports & TEN Sports / India– Star Sports / Bangladesh – Disney Star
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: USA – Willow TV website / West Indies – ESPN Play Caribbean app / UK – Sky Go / South Africa – SuperSport app / Pakistan – Myco & Tamasha / India – Disney+Hotstar / Bangladesh – Disney+Hotstar / Australia – Amazon Prime Video
NEW ZEALAND FORM: BLACKCAPS HUNTING FOR FIRST MAJOR ICC WHITE BALL TITLE
New Zealand have plenty of reason for optimism ahead of this competition with a stacked squad looking to make history and end the heartbreak that normally plagues New Zealand when it comes to these competitions. Their last T20i series ended in a 2-2 draw away at Pakistan, but was played without many first-team players due to the IPL.
LAST FIVE: LWWLA
AFGHANISTAN FORM: CONFIDENCE HIGH FOLLOWING THRASHING OF UGANDA
Afghanistan have always been seen as a side whose biggest strengths lie in T20 cricket and their beating of Uganda by such a large margin suggests that they’ll be one to watch over the course of this ICC T20 World Cup, especially with such an impressive bowling attack that covers all bases.
LAST FIVE: WAWWL
NEW ZEALAND BETTING ANALYSIS
After a fabulous 50-over ICC Cricket World Cup campaign last year which saw him rack up 578 runs, Rachin Ravindra will look to transfer those skills into the T20i arena in another major ICC tournament. He has the quality and ability against spin to do so and backing him to record over 20.5 match runs looks a sensible play.
From a bowling point of view, Trent Boult’s left-arm pace is also likely to cause chaos for the opposition and his reliability cannot be questioned. The aggression that comes with T20 cricket always leads to opportunities for bowlers and Boult could profit. Consider backing him via the ‘Team Top Bowler’ market.
AFGHANISTAN BETTING ANALYSIS
Afghanistan’s star of their first game was Fazalhaq Farooqi, who racked up five wickets for the loss of just nine runs. It would be no surprise if those figures aren’t bettered across the entirely of the tournament and with confidence flowing through him at present, it’s well worth backing Farooqi to gain another 2+ wickets here.
Rashid Khan also offers good value when it comes to the Afghanistan bowlers, as his right-arm mystery spin is always so difficult to play. A star for many years now, Rashid is as reliable as they come in T20 cricket, so back him to gain over 1.5 match wickets against the Black Caps, as he did last time out vs Uganda.
NEW ZEALAND VS AFGHANISTAN EXPERT PREDICTION
If New Zealand play at the level that their players are capable of, then they’ll be in a good position to get off to a winning start. But having already competed in their first group game, Afghanistan are the more match-fresh and that could be reflected in their expected sharpness on the field. The pitches seem to suit their bowling attack and in a format such as this, upsets can be found.
Whilst not the favourites here, it may prove a shrewd play to back Afghanistan with rain potentially having an adverse effect on proceedings as well. If the Black Caps start this one slowly, it would be no surprise to see them come undone.
NEW ZEALAND VS AFGHANISTAN TOP TIP: AFGHANISTAN TO WIN