World Cup 2023: New Zealand continue perfect run with comfortable 149-run win against Afghanistan
2019 finalists New Zealand continued their perfect start to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 by defeating Afghanistan by 149 runs at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai.
The Kiwis survived an early scare to register their fourth win in the tournament to go top of the points table. Afghanistan, who defeated defending champions England in their previous match to register just their second win in the history of ODI World Cups, fell short against New Zealand on a difficult batting track in Chennai.
After getting off to a comfortable start, the Kiwis lost three wickets in quick succession to be left reeling at 110 for 4. Following Devon Conway’s early dismissal, Rachin Ravindra and Will Young formed a 79-run stand before Azmatullah Omarzai struck to dismiss both of them in the 21st over.
PHILLIPS, LATHAM FORM CRUCIAL STAND
Daryll Mitchell couldn’t move the scoreboard much, being dismissed by Rashid Khan in the very next over. However, New Zealand did not crumble with skipper Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips stitching a crucial 144-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Both batters went on to score half-centuries as they took the attack to the Afghans. Phillips departed after scoring 71 runs off 80 balls, while Latham chipped in with a 74-ball 68.
Mark Chapman played a cameo of 25 runs off 12 deliveries towards the end to guide New Zealand to a fighting total of 288 for 6. Naveen ul-Haq was the pick of the Afghan bowlers, claiming two wickets while giving away 48 runs in 8 overs.
KIWIS STRIKE EARLY IN 2ND INNINGS
In reply, New Zealand never let Afghanistan settle in their 289-run chase. Matt Henry provided the all-important wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz to peg Afghanistan back early on. Ibrahim Zadran and Hashmatullah Shahidi departed after being dismissed by Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson respectively.
Mitchell Santner took a potential catch of the tournament to get rid of the Afghanistan captain in the 14th over. Omarzai and Rahmat Shah formed a 54-run stand before Boult struck again to dismiss Omarzai. Then Ravindra joined the party to claim the wicket of Shah after scoring 36 runs off 62 balls.
Santner then cleaned up Mohammed Nabi to become just the second New Zealand spinner to claim 100 ODI wickets after the legendary Daniel Vettori. Ferguson and Santner went on work on Afghanistan’s tail and bundled them over for 139 runs in 34.4 overs, winning the game by 149 runs.
The win takes New Zealand to the top of the points table with four wins out of four matches, and a net run-rate of +1.923.