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New Zealand
Afghanistan
New Zealand and Afghanistan will face each other in Match 4 of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai in a Group D clash. New Zealand will be led by Mitchell Santner, while Afghanistan will be captained by Rashid Khan. The Chennai pitch will offer help to spinners, which will play a key role in this contest.
Afghanistan will come into this match with strong recent form. They will have won 4 of their last 5 T20I matches and will be coming off a series win against West Indies. New Zealand have struggled in recent outings, losing a T20I series to India by a 4-1 margin.
The two teams have met 3 times in the 20 World Cups. Each side will have 1 win, with 1 match abandoned. Afghanistan won the last meeting in 2024, bowling New Zealand out for 75 and winning by 84 runs.
The Chepauk pitch will assist spinners and slower bowlers throughout the match and both teams have wicket-taking bowling attacks, which will lead to regular dismissals in both innings.
The betting tip is...
Over 12.5 wickets in the match
61 %
39 %
New ZealandAfghanistanTim Seifert is their top run-scorer over the last year with 662 runs from 18 innings at an average of 44.13. He will open the batting alongside Finn Allen, who will come into this match in good form after a strong recent BBL. Daryl Mitchell will add experience in the middle order, having scored 388 runs from 19 innings at an average of 29.84.
The bowling attack will be led by Jacob Duffy, who has taken 40 wickets in 24 T20I innings at an average of 17.17 in the last year. Ish Sodhi will support the spin attack with 24 wickets from 17 innings at an average of 20.33.
James Neesham has picked up 17 wickets in 12 innings at an average of 14.70. Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi will both start as the Chennai surface will favour spinners, while Glenn Phillips will offer a part-time spin option.
Santner, Sodhi and Duffy are the key bowlers.
Predicted Lineup: Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson.
Ibrahim Zadran leads the batting charts over the last year in T20Is with 590 runs from 17 innings at an average of 39.33. Rahmanullah Gurbaz will also be key at the top, having scored 456 runs in 17 innings. Sediqullah Atal will add stability in the middle order with 436 runs from 16 innings.
The bowling unit will be led by Rashid Khan, who has taken 26 wickets in 15 T20I innings at an average of 12.34 over the last year. Mujeeb Ur Rahman has taken 19 wickets in 12 innings at 16.78.
Azmatullah Omarzai has added 14 wickets in 15 innings. In the last World Cup win against New Zealand, Farooqi and Rashid took 4 wickets each, Nabi took 2 wickets, and Gurbaz scored 80 off 56 balls.
Rashid, Mujeeb and Nabi are the key bowlers.
Predicted Lineup: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Shahidullah Kamal, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan (c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen Ul Haq.
The Chepauk pitch will help spinners throughout the game. Both teams will rely heavily on their spin attacks, with Afghanistan having Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi, while New Zealand will use Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi and Glenn Phillips.
The pitch will slow down as the match progresses, which will bring mistimed shots and frequent dismissals. Batters from both sides will need to take risks to keep the run rate moving.
This will increase the chances of wickets falling in the middle overs. Pace bowlers will also get help from cutters. With quality bowlers operating from both ends, wickets are expected to fall consistently across both innings.
