In the 13th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, table-toppers New Zealand will take on bottom-placed Afghanistan at The Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton.

Both the teams have made two games till now. While New Zealand has defeated Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Afghanistan has lost the two its matches to Australia and Sri Lank, yet not without a battle.

Leg-spinner Rashid Khan leads the charge with Mohammed Nabi, who returned figures of 4-30 with his off spin in their past misfortune against Sri Lanka. Yet, it’s their batting that has given them a chance to down as they were expelled for 152 in their updated chase of 187 in a rain-hit game Cardiff on Tuesday.

“We need some improvement in the batting, we need more partnerships,” Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib said after the Sri Lanka misfortune.

Match Details

The New Zealand vs Afghanistan tie is the 13th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. The match will occur at The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton, beginning at 1:30pm (local time) and 6pm IST. It will be broadcast live on StarSports network. Online watchers can logon to Hotstar for all the live action.

Team News

New Zealand are probably not going to change their playing XI a lot after winning both their opening games — first one by 10 wickets over Sri Lanka and second by two wickets against Bangladesh. The Kiwis additionally don’t have any damage concerns.

Afghanistan has been compelled to make a change after being managed major damage blow. Opening batsman Mohammad Shahzad was ruled out of the whole ICC World Cup because of knee damage. Youthful wicketkeeper-batsman Ikram Ali Khil will replace him.

Predicted XI

Afghanistan: Gulbadin Naib (C), Ikram Ali Khil (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Hamid Hassan and Mujeeb ur Rahman.

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner and Ross Taylor.

Dream11 Picks

Batsmen: Tom Latham (wk), Rahmat Shah, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson (C), Martin Guptill

All-rounders: Mohammad Nabi (VC), Gulbadin Naib

Bowlers: Matt Henry, Rashid Khan, Hamid Hasan, Lokie Ferguson