ICC World Cup: New Zealand will take on Afghanistan at M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Today, New Zealand will take on Afghanistan at M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The match will start at 2 PM.
New Zealand shares the top of the points table with India with six points from 3 matches, while Afghanistan has succeeded in only one of its three matches.
It was only four days ago that Will Young was scrambling around the boundary ropes at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. He was New Zealand’s designated drinks-bearer alongside Chris Donaldson, the Strength & Conditioning coach, on a warm evening in Chennai. It was only four days ago that Tom Latham was back behind the wickets without feeling obligated to speak to the bowlers. It’s something he’s admitted to finding difficult because he’s positioned so far off from the bowling end; and not being the captain for once made things a little bit easier for him in the middle.
But four days can be a long time in cricket. Come the match-day against Afghanistan, Will Young won’t be tailgating Donaldson on the edge of the boundary. He’d be in the middle, batting and fielding, having come in for Kane Williamson who had no sooner recovered than the thumb broke. Tom Latham would no longer be able to abstain from conversations around the fields. He’d have to walk to the bowler to discuss plans and fields.
Not that either Young or Latham would mind it. Playing for the country is a huge privilege, let alone captaining it but the circumstances have been such for New Zealand that crises have come on a conveyor belt. Luckily though, there can only be so many of them. Is Kane Williamson injured again? Here, bring Will Young who’d just made way. Here, give this captaincy hat back to Latham who had just taken it off. It seems like New Zealand have had an answer to everything this World Cup but what they are coming up next can be a different kettle of fish altogether.
Afghanistan have arrived in Chennai not as also-rans but as bit of a lion-tamer. Just the other day, they ran rings around England, totally outplaying a team that’s set the pace of ODIs for the better part of a decade now and has come in this edition to do some of the same, if not “defend” anything. The pitch here in Chennai is going to be an accomplice again and nothing less than more wins is going to do it for them. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi has already promised “more positive cricket” and how New Zealand’s perfect streak rifles through a reinvigorated opposition, and in conditions favorable to the latter, will make for a very watchable battle.
Squads:
New Zealand Squad: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham(w/c), Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Will Young, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi, James Neesham, Tim Southee
Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Najibullah Zadran, Abdul Rahman, Riaz Hassan, Noor Ahmad
