What a tournament it has been going for New Zealand! With four consecutive wins, the Kiwis are flying high with the best score so far in the tournament. They are standing number one at the points table following their win against Afghanistan by 149 runs.
New Zealand keeps up with their winning streak
Coming to bat first in the MA Chidambaram stadium, New Zealand put up 288 runs on the board for the loss of six wickets. It was a team effort from all the batters, with Glenn Phillips scoring a wonderful 80 ball 71 with four fours and four sixes. Tom Latham was great with the bat, too, scoring a well-made 68 off 74.
Naveen-ul-Haq and Azmatullah picked up two wickets each and both Mujeeb and Rashid Khan picked one.
Coming to chase a near 300-run target, Afghanistan batters didn’t look solid. After defeating England in their last game, fans were having high hopes for them, however, Wednesday night didn’t end in their favor against New Zealand.
Rahmat Shah scored the highest for them (32), but that wasn’t enough to defeat the 2019 runner-up. Both Santner and Ferguson picked up three wickets; Boult had two in his pocket.
For his marvelous batting display, Philips was awarded the player of the match.
What did the captains say?
The New Zealand captain Tom Latham spoke about how the bowlers managed to take early wickets. They lost three wickets in a quick span, and Latham mentioned how brilliantly the Afghanistan bowlers bowled. He further added,
“Glenn played a fantastic knock. The first ten overs were superb. Mitch Santner coming in and doing his job. Pleasing all-around performance. I guess on the back of some good performances, it is pleasing. We have India and then Australia. Hopefully, the momentum will continue.”
The Afghanistan captain, Hashmatullah Shahidi, seemed disappointed with his team’s fielding. He mentioned that it’s important to take catches at crucial moments, and due to poor fielding, they were down. He mentioned,
“The pitch was slow. We bowled well, but the fielding was a concern for us. It will hurt us. We have more games to come. We will talk where we can improve and come back stronger in the next game.”
After this, the Kiwis will be meeting India at Dharamshala in a few days, and Afghanistan will be meeting Pakistan on the 23rd. Before they do, India will be meeting Bangladesh today, and fans all around will be looking forward to witnessing a classic encounter between the neighbors.
Stay tuned for the upcoming games and a lot of stunners on the way!
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