The Black Caps have been forced to make a change to their battling lineup once again with Kane Williamson suffering a fracture in his left thumb while batting against Bangladesh. As the Herald’s Kris Shannon reports, the top order will revert to its construction for the opening two games in India: Will Young recalled to open with Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra coming in at first drop after a short-lived elevation. That trio saw the second wicket fall with 144 on the board against the Netherlands - and it didn’t fall against England.
History
Both sides have played a total of two matches, both at the World Cup. The Black Caps have won both of them.
2015 - New Zealand won by six wickets, Napier
2019 - New Zealand won by seven wickets, Taunton
TAB odds
New Zealand $1.27 Afghanistan $3.55
How to watch
Sky Sport 1 from 9.00pm tonight, the Herald will have live updates.
Herald prediction
Black Caps by 8 wickets/120 runs.
Squads
Black Caps (possible): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Tom Latham (capt, wk), 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Mark Chapman, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Mark Henry, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult
Afghanistan: (possible) 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), 5 Azmatullah Oarzai, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Najibullah Zadran, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi
