Six months ago, at the ODI World Cup in India, Afghanistan had an impressive showing, finishing sixth in the 10-team tournament, ahead of a powerhouse like England.
The Agganis pulled off a few upsets, beating England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, but were unable to beat New Zealand, losing by 149 runs in the group stage.
Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott said his team would be hoping to get a point back on Friday.
“I think the 50-over World Cup showed us we can compete with any team in the world and that’s our philosophy,” Trott said when asked if his team had the ability to beat New Zealand.
“new zealand [are] A very good team, a very good team in all formats of the game, [have] “They have some good winners and we are looking forward to this game as it is always a tough match against New Zealand. But we played them in the 50-over World Cup and lost to them so hopefully we can get one back against them and tie the score at 1-1,” he added.