CHENNAI, India (AP) — Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won his second toss in four games and opted to bowl first against New Zealand at the Cricket World Cup on Wednesday.
New Zealand, the runner-up in 2019, and India are the only unbeaten sides in the tournament.
The Black Caps are second behind India in the standings. Both teams have six points from three games, with India leading on net run-rate. New Zealand has beaten England, Netherlands and Bangladesh.
Skipper Kane Williamson is again unavailable, this time owing to a thumb injury sustained during the match with Bangladesh, and is replaced by Will Young. Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi misses out for a fourth successive game.
Afghanistan is coming off a stunning 69-run win over England in one of the biggest shocks in the tournament’s history. The victory lifted the team to sixth in the standings with two points from three games.
Afghanistan is unchanged and again the focus will be on its trio of spinners – Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi.
New Zealand has a 2-0 winning record in World Cups against Afghanistan.
Netherlands produced another shocker Tuesday, upsetting South Africa by 38 runs.
Line-ups:
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (captain), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
___
AP Cricket World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
