Afghanistan wins toss, bats against New Zealand at T20 World Cup

CHENNAI, India — Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat against New Zealand on Sunday in what shapes as the toughest group at the T20 World Cup.

Both teams are placed in Group D that also includes last tournament’s finalist South Africa and two associate nations — Canada and the United Arab Emirates. Only two teams can progress from this ‘group of death’ to the Super 8 stage of the tournament.

It is the first international match between the two teams since Afghanistan’s famous 84-run win against the Black Caps at Guyana at the 2024 T20 World Cup.

New Zealand has been in India over the last month but has had to cope with quite a number of injuries and illnesses to its players.

Afghanistan is at its full strength and goes into the game as favorite with ace spinner and captain Rashid Khan needing only four wickets to become the first bowler to take 700 wickets in T20 matches.

“We have a good bowling lineup and I hope it’ll help spin later on,” Rashid said at the toss. “We’ve played a lot of ICC events and it’s just about playing smart cricket and using experience.”

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner hoped the grass on the wicket will help the three seamers -- Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson and Jacob Duffy — during the day game.

The T20 World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, opened up on Saturday with victories for Pakistan, India and the West Indies.

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Line-ups:

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (captain), Fazalhaq Farooqi, Ziaur Rahman, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (captain), James Neesham, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy