Afghanistan defeated New Zealand in their last meeting at the World Cup two years ago.
Mitchell Santner, New Zealand captain:
We were thinking about (if the first bowl was), you know, there’s some grass here. Of course, my six years in Chennai there wasn’t much grass on this pitch, so I think it will play quite well. it was good. (on preparations) I think we had a hectic schedule with the India series traveling around the country, but we had a couple of days in Mumbai which was nice, our second warm-up game. And then, yes, we’re here now, but yes, ready to go. I think they’re all back, which is nice. We struggled a bit with that warm-up game, a couple of guys down, but yeah, we went, it’s similar, I think we have three seamers and then Neesham, the fourth seamer, with, you know, me, Rachin and GP as our spinners. Ish Sodhi, Bracewell, Conway and Jamieson have all missed today’s game
Rashid Khan, Afghanistan captain:
First, we like to blow off steam. First game for us, fresh wicket, put the runs on the board and I think it will help our spinners more later. I feel like I’ve played in a few ICC events and played around the world, all the players have played a lot and have a lot of experience, but it’s just about bringing that experience and then playing a smart game. I feel that is more important and we are fully prepared for it and we hope that we are ready to put on a great performance. Me, Mujeeb and Nabi, three spinners, but I think there will be help for the pacers as well. feel it’s a pitch that will be useful for fast bowlers if you aim in the right areas. We also have three pacers. Fazalhaq Farooqi, all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai and Ziaur Rahman Sharifi, the three pacers. Gulbadin can mix as well.
Teams:
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (w), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), James Neesham, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (w), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (c), Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Shariur Rahman.