Afghanistan vs New Zealand LIVE SCORE, T20 World Cup 2021: AFG wins toss, elects to bat; Mujeeb to play

Welcome to Sportstar's LIVE coverage of the T20 World Cup 2021 match between Afghanistan and New Zealand from the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Afghanistan Playing XI: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan, Naveen Ul Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

New Zealand Playing XI: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (c), Devon Conway (wk), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult

UPDATE: Huge news coming in. Mujeeb Ur Rahman is back in Afghanistan's Playing XI after an injury. New Zealand will field an unchanged XI from its win against Namibia.

Afghanistan wins the toss and will bat first.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman hits the gym. Will he play today?

Stay tuned for the toss, playing at 3:00 PM IST.

Afghanistan will take on New Zealand in the first T20I meeting between the sides. The two teams have clashed in two ODIs at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, with the Kiwis getting the better of the Afghans on both occasions.

Abu Dhabi in T20 World Cup 2021:

Batting first won: 5

Batting second won: 8

Average first innings score: 144

Average first innings winning score: 184

Abu Dhabi in T20 World Cup 2021 Super 12:

Batting first won: 4

Batting second won: 5

Average first innings score: 149

Average first innings winning score: 187

MATCH PREVIEW

Afghanistan will face New Zealand in a crucial Group 2 Super-12 contest at the ICC T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. Both these teams and India are still in contention for the second semifinal spot.

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If Kane Williamson’s men win, they will get to eight points and qualify for the last four. Afghanistan’s 66-run defeat at the hands of India has dented its hopes of reaching the semis. To advance, it would need to beat New Zealand and then hope for Namibia to pull off an upset win against India.

Advantage

Mohammad Nabi's men can go through even if India beats Namibia, but for that, they need a big win to dramatically improve its Net Run Rate. However, India playing last, still gives it an edge.

New Zealand’s batting has looked in good shape and its bowling, especially the eight overs of quality spin from Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner, will be crucial in Abu Dhabi, where longer boundaries are perhaps a slightly greater challenge for batters looking to go big.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, will be sweating over the fitness of Mujeeb Ur Rahman. In his absence, skipper Nabi has to manage with just four overs of quality spin from Rashid Khan. His other bowlers have lacked discipline and incision.

In the batting department, openers Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad usually set the tone with their aggressive, boundary-hitting approach in PowerPlay. Whether they can do the same against the pace duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee remains to be seen.

The whole of India will be watching closely as well.

-Ayan Acharya

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