New Zealand Defeats Afghanistan by Five Wickets in T20 World Cup Group D Clash

Chennai. In a Group D match of the T20 World Cup held on Sunday, New Zealand defeated Afghanistan by five wickets. New Zealand chased down the target of 183 runs set by Afghanistan in 17.5 overs, losing 5 wickets. New Zealand's opener Tim Seifert contributed the highest score of 65 runs.

He hit 7 fours and 3 sixes off 42 balls. Glenn Phillips contributed 42 runs with the help of 7 fours and 1 six off 25 balls. Mark Chapman scored 28 runs off 17 balls, while Daryl Mitchell remained not out on 25 runs and Captain Mitchell Santner scored 17 runs to secure the victory for the team.

For Afghanistan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman took 2 wickets, conceding 31 runs in 4 overs. Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Azmatullah Omarzai took 1 wicket each. Earlier, having won the toss and elected to bat first, Afghanistan scored 182 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Gulbadin Naib scored the highest for the team with 63 runs.

He smashed 3 fours and 4 sixes off just 35 balls. Sediqullah Atal scored 29 runs with the help of 2 fours off 24 balls, while opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 27 runs off 22 balls with 2 fours and 1 six. Darwish Rasuli contributed 20 runs off 13 balls, hitting 1 four and 1 six.

Towards the end of the innings, Azmatullah Omarzai scored 14 runs off 7 balls, and Mohammad Nabi scored 10 runs off the same number of balls. For New Zealand, Lockie Ferguson took 2 wickets, conceding 40 runs in 4 overs. Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, and Rachin Ravindra took 1 wicket each.

The last encounter between the two teams in the T20 World Cup took place in the previous edition, which Afghanistan won by 84 runs. In that match, New Zealand was all out for 75 runs in response to Afghanistan's 159 runs.