Mercurial Afghanistan look to spring another World Cup shock

Head coach Jonathan Trott allowed the Afghanistan players to celebrate their stunning victory against England in the World Cup, something he regrets not doing in his playing career. It was undoubtedly the greatest moment in Afghanistan's sporting victory, more so for the players given the difficult upbringing of many. 

But they could not celebrate for long as another World Cup game against arguably the best team in the tournament is going to be underway on Wednesday. New Zealand, despite being handed a massive blow after Kane Williamson's thumb fracture, have looked like the team to beat in the tournament. 

And they have a relatively easier travel schedule compared to the other teams in the World Cup. They will lock horns with Afghanistan at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, where they have already played a game. In that match against Bangladesh, the pitch surprisingly offered an extraordinary bit of help to the seamers which was quite uncharacteristic of the venue.

But that does not mean the spinners did not have a role. Mitchell Santner, who knows the ground like the back of his hand, finished his quota of ten overs without conceding a boundary. 

If the pitch aids spin, it will bring Afghanistan's spin trio of Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi in play who shared eight wickets among them against England. 

Rashid, in particular, has played a fair bit in Chennai being an IPL regular. He has eight wickets in seven T20 matches at this ground. He was under a bit of pressure after his lacklustre performance against bigger teams came under the scanner ahead of the England game.

But the talismanic leg-spinner proved his doubters wrong by picking up three crucial wickets against England. His stardom in India too is unparalleled. When he walked out to bat, the crowd in Delhi chanted his name and Rashid immediately responded with a cracking boundary first ball.

He might just get a similar sort of reception from the knowledgeable Chennai crowd as well. 

For New Zealand, there were good performances from the Chennai Super Kings opener Devon Conway, Williamson, Daryl Mitchell and Lockie Ferguson. But there was one pacer who impressed with his death bowling, something he is not really known for.

Trent Boult has been one of the finest new-ball bowlers in white-ball cricket, primarily because of his ability to bring the back into the right-handers. It has made him a genuine wicket-taker up front. 

But with time, he has developed himself as a useful slog-over operator as well. He has mastered the off-cutter and the knuckleball. His 200th wicket in ODIs, which he got against Bangladesh, came off a knuckeball.

But New Zealand will rely on him to give them a good start against Afghanistan, who are heavily reliant on their opening duo of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran. 

Gurbaz showed his power and class in his 57-ball-80 against England and his innings made a massive difference as it became increasingly tough to time the ball once it got older and softer.

The in-form Will Young had to sit out against Bangladesh as Williamson returned to action. With the regular captain missing out on the next few games, Young is likely to return to open the innings with Conway and Rachin Ravindra is supposed to drop down to number three.

The average first-innings score in Chennai is 232 but Bangladesh were hammered even after scoring an above-par 245. If the pitch aids spin like it does more often than not, Hashmatullah Shahidi's men will look to produce another stunning result in the World Cup to make the contest wide open.