The 2024 edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup which kickstarted on June 2 has witnessed many historic matches and mouthwatering clashes including USA’s victory against Pakistan in a super over match.
New Zealand vs Afghanistan is one of the matches that gained more attention from cricket fans and experts. Afghanistan under Rashid Khan outsmarted Kane Williamson and Co. by containing the team for just 75 runs in their 150-plus run chase game.
This 75 vs Afghanistan was the second lowest score for New Zealand in T20 World Cup history. Afghans executed an all-rounding performance with both and ball in their eye-catching victory against the Kiwis.
Gurbaz scored an impressive 80 off 56 and helped the Afghans to score 159 runs while captain Rashid and Farooqi clinched the victory by bagging four wickets each.
Notably, this is the first time Afghanistan defeated New Zealand in 5 international matches.
Speaking of the game, New Zealand opted to bowl first after winning the toss, where Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran opened the inning. The duo added 103 runs for the first wicket and made an impressive start for Afghanistan. Gurbaz secured his second half-century of the tournament during the process.
Though they made a century stand for their first wicket their net run rate was not up to the mark. Afghanistan crossed the 100 runs mark in the middle of the 14th over which is nearly 7 runs per over.
Afghan middle-order batters failed to make an impact with the bat and fell cheaply for New Zealand’s quality bowling attack.
While Gurbaz was expected to score the first century of the tournament, the right-hander lost his wicket in the final after scoring 80 runs from 56 balls. With a couple of dismissals in that over, Afghanistan managed to score just 3 runs which made them finish their inning with a score of 159.
With the half-century, Gurbaz becomes the leading run-scorer of the tournament with a tally of 156 runs. Still, Aaron Jones’ unbeaten 94 remains the highest individual score of the T20 World Cup 2024.
New Zealand made a struggling start in their chasing inning. Fazalhaq Farooqi dismissed Finn Allen in the very first delivery of the inning and shocked the NZ batters.
Following his dismissal, New Zealand batters struggled to face the aggressive Afghan bowling attack and started to fall cheaply. Without much contribution from the batters, New Zealand managed to score only 75 runs for 10 wickets.
After winning their first game by 125 runs, the Afghans registered an 84-run victory in their second game and retained the top spot in the points table with a whopping run rate of +5.225.
Afghanistan will play their next game of the tournament against Papua New Guinea on June 14 in Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad.
