AFG vs NZ 1st Match Prediction

AFG vs NZ Team Previews

Afghanistan

Afghanistan has chosen three uncapped players in its squad for this series. It is also not going to have Rashid Khan available because of injury. We don't think this is going to be much of an issue considering the fact that Afghanistan does not play much test cricket and even its other players don't have much experience in this format. 

We believe Afghanistan is being undervalued quite massively by the bookmakers here. The conditions should favor them with both the ball and with the bat also. If luck favors them and they get the better of the conditions, we could see Afghanistan cause New Zealand some real problems. 

The batting is going to be led by Hazmatullah Shahidi, Rahmat Shah, and Ibrahim Zadran. All these three batters have the necessary patience as well as the technique to play long innings. Ikram Alikhil is also a batter that has done well for Afghanistan in the few chances he has got and could be someone worth placing a bet on. 

Coming to the bowling, the two left-arm wrist spinners, Qais Ahmad and Zahir Khan, will be key for Afghanistan. The conditions should aid them and New Zealand has also tended to struggle against spin in the past. Azmatullah Omarzai will play the role of the all-rounder while we are also likely to see a debut for Shams ur Rahman or Khalil Ahmed. 

New Zealand

New Zealand has seen a drop off in its Test results ever since it won the WTC last season but that does not mean you should take it lightly. A full-strength team has been announced for one one-off test match. Kane Williamson leads the batting with a lot of support all through the order. 

Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, and Daryll Mitchell could all find a place in the playing eleven. Their presence will also give New Zealand three all-round options that it can use in the field. Tom Latham and Devon Conway are likely to open the batting. There is simply no comparison between the batting strength of New Zealand and Afghanistan. 

New Zealand is far superior and only the fact that it is playing in spin-friendly conditions could equalize the scaled a bit. 

We would advise looking at betting markets like team with the top run scorer as well the individual over/under markets for the New Zealand batters. 

New Zealand's bowling could have three spinners and three fast bowlers, depending on the final team combination that they go for. Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, and Ajaz Patel could be the three spinners in the playing eleven with Tim Southee, Ben Sears, and Matt Henry the fast bowlers. 

We recommend staying away from the Top Bowler betting market in this case. The pitch is a big unknown and Afghanistan's batting lineup is prone to collapses. Any bowler could end up picking a clutch of wickets.