India, Feb. 8 -- An underwhelming New Zealand will be hoping to rediscover their explosive game against a dangerous Afghanistan in the opening Group D match of the ICC T20 World Cup on Sunday. The Kiwis went through a rather unstable preparatory phase ahead of the ICC showpiece, going 1-4 down to India, and Afghanistan are no less a threat. The arrival of Tim Seifert and Finn Allen have given their top order a tad more firepower, but they need more substantial and consistent contributions from Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman and Devon Conway to capitalise on the starts given by the openers.

The sub-par effort by the middle-order was a huge missing link for New Zealand in the series against India as they struggled to force pace while settin...