New Zealand - Afghanistan Predictions & Betting tips - ICC Men's Cricket World Cup

Prediction published on 16/10/2023, 12:00  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 16/10/2023 at 12:35

Match 16 of 48 in the 2023 Cricket World Cup will see New Zealand taking on Afghanistan on Wednesday morning. The Black Caps are in second place in the table standings, while the Afghans are sixth. New Zealand came into the tournament a little under the radar but have made an excellent start to their CWC campaign. The Kiwis have won all three of their match so far and look extremely settled and brimming with confidence. They got their tournament started by claiming a convincing nine-wicket victory over the defending champions, England. That was followed by a 99-run win over the Netherlands and an eight-wicket drubbing of Bangladesh last Friday. Devon Conway (229) and Rachin Ravindra (183) are ranked second and seventh, respectively, in the top scorer standings. Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry have taken eight wickets each and are the joint-highest wicket-takers, along with India’s Jasprit Bumrah. The Kiwis have never lost to this opponent in ODIs and are the clear favourites in this match. 

Meanwhile, Afghanistan have announced their arrival at the Cricket World Cup. They come into this match following a resounding win over England by 69 runs. That brought up their first points of the competition following losses to Bangladesh and India in their first two matches. Against England, Rahmanullah Gurbaz headlined for the Afghans with a blistering 80 runs in just 57 balls. Ikram Alikhil also played an important innings in the lower order to help his side to a total of 284. Rashid Khan continued his good form from the last match, claiming three English scalps, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi picked up five wickets between them. Having recorded the biggest upset of the tournament last week, can Afghanistan overcome another giant in this one?