Kane Williamson has played five seasons with Rashid Khan at Sunrisers Hyderabad but the two have never met in a T20I. When New Zealand and Afghanistan clash in their final group league match in Abu Dhabi on Sunday afternoon, expect a lot of the Indian fans to root for Afghanistan since on Mohammed Nabi’s men hinge India’s fortunes. Ravichandran Ashwin had even offered physio help for injured spinner Mujeeb-ur Rahman the other day to get him back on the park.

If Afghanistan can beat New Zealand and come of age, they can make the road to the semi-finals easier for Virat Kohli’s men. India’s net run rate is ahead of both New Zealand and Afghanistan and hence a victory over Namibia in their final league match will take them to the knockout stage. For New Zealand, a simple victory will take them to the last four stage along with Pakistan from group 2.

There also lies a faint hope for Afghanistan in victory. If they can improve their net run rate substantially, they will have the chance to pip India to the semis. However, since India will be playing on Monday they have the advantage of forging ahead of their rivals in the net run rate.

The conditions are expected to be better for batting compared to the spin-friendly wickets in Dubai. The focus will be on how New Zealand tackle the Afghanistan spinners and the Powerplay overs could well decide the contest.

While Rashid and Nabi have been consistent, Mujeeb’s availability will boost their bowling. Mujeeb missed the last two games and teammate Hashmatullah Shahidi wasn’t sure of the spinner’s recovery on match-eve.

Afghanistan have been known for their bang-bang approach in the first six overs. They have scored 55, 49, 50 and 47 runs in Powerplays so far, and haven’t veered away from the big-hitting style. Trent Boult and Tim Southee will be tested no doubt but New Zealand could also utilise their spinner Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi like they did against India.

“If we get the basics right for a long enough period of time, I think we’ll give ourselves a good chance,” Sodhi said on Saturday.

Afghanistan weren’t looking beyond their side. “We only focus on ourselves, our team. Our main focus is how we qualify for the semi-finals. So we will go with that,” Shahidi said.

If Afghanistan spinners can weave their magic, they will hold the aces and therein lie India’s hopes.

Big question: Will Mujeeb Ur Rahman pass the fitness test to play the match? He is a very impressive spinner and if he plays, the trident of Rashid, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb can ask really difficult questions to the Black Caps who are not known for being great against spin.

Ground reality: Three of the four highest totals of this T20 World Cup have been made in Abu Dhabi. But with some help for the quicks early on, batting in Powerplay may not be a cakewalk.

Rashid Khan

Afghanistan’s hopes lie entirely in the hands of their spinners, with Rashid being their best bet. The leg-spinner has already taken 7 wickets in the tournament at a strike rate of 12.2. His economy rate of 5.93 has also been excellent. New Zealand get nervous if they lose quick wickets, as was evident in their match against Namibia. Rashid surely knows that.

Martin Guptill

Guptill may turn out to be a key character in Sunday’s match, not only because he has scored the most number of runs — 148 — for New Zealand so far in this tournament, but also because he has a better strike rate (134.09) against the spinners. If the New Zealand opener gets the start, he might run away with the match from the Afghans with his big hits.