Afghanistan produced a ruthless performance and told the world yet again that they are here to challenge for the T20 World Cup title by crushing former finalists New Zealand in a Group C game.
Riding on Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 80 and a superlative bowling show led by captain Rashid Khan, Afghanistan beat New Zealand by 85 runs on a sluggish pitch at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Friday, June 7 (Saturday morning in India). New Zealand were bundled out for 75, their fourth-lowest total in T20 cricket.
It was also Afghanistan’s first-ever win over New Zealand in T20 internationals. Rashid Khan and Fazalhaq Farooqi were the heroes with the ball as they took four wickets each for Afghanistan after Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s match-winning 80.
It was the second big upset of the T20 World Cup after Pakistan were stunned by co-hosts USA on Thursday in Dallas.
Kane Williamson’s New Zealand looked undercooked in their first match of the T20 World Cup as they were outplayed in all three departments by Afghanistan. From missing catches and stumps to struggling to even put bat to ball, the BlackCaps looked a shadow of their dominant self against an inspired Afghanistan side. In fact, New Zealand’s innings lasted just 15.2 overs as they were handed a huge wake-up call.
New Zealand did not play a warm-up match and most of their top stars missed a tour of Bangladesh to be part of the Indian Premier League. The rustiness was on display on Thursday as the BlackCaps did not get going at all.
For Afghanistan, who only made their T20 World Cup debut in 2010, back-to-back wins in Group C has put them in a great position to qualify for the next round — the Super 8s. Afghanistan are on top of the Group C points table, placed above co-hosts West Indies. Afghanistan had hammered Uganda by 125 runs in their opening match, which was also played in Guyana.
RUTHLESS AFGHANISTAN SHOOT OUT NZ FOR 75
After having put 159 on the board on a sluggish pitch, Afghanistan always knew that they had enough to trouble the New Zealand batters. And Fazalhaq Farooqi started from where he left a couple of days ago by getting Finn Allen for 0 in the very second ball of the New Zealand innings.
The left-arm seamer, who picked 5 wickets in the game against Uganda, rattled New Zealand with the new ball, picking up the big wickets of Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell. Fazalhaq bowled 13 dot balls in his three-over burst in the powerplay as New Zealad were reduced to 33 for 3 in the first six overs.
New Zealand needed captain Kane Williamson to do the repair job. However, Rashid Khan removed the opposition captain for just 9 in the very first delivery of his spell.
Rashid then ran through the middle order as the pitch at the Providence Stadium assisted the Afghanistan spinners. None of the big names, including Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner, got going as New Zealand surrendered against the aggressive Afghanistan bowling unit.
Mohammad Nabi chipped in with 2 wickets as there was no breathing space for the New Zealand batters. Only two batters — Glenn Phillips (18) and Matt Henry (12) — went past the 10-run mark for the former finalists.
GURBAZ AND IBRAHIM EQUAL T20 WORLD CUP RECORD
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the batting hero for Afghanistan as the Knight Riders opener hit 80 off just 54 balls. He stitched a 103-run partnership with Ibrahim Zadran, days after the two batters added 154 against Uganda.
Gurbaz and Zadran were helped by some sloppy fielding from New Zealand. Playing their first game, the BlackCaps did not look comfortable on the field as they dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities in the powerplay. Both Gurbaz and Ibrahim were dropped once each in the powerplay while wicketkeeper Conway, playing his first competitive international match after an injury layoff, missed two stumping opportunities in the first six overs.
Gurbaz and Ibrahim capitalised on the opportunity and got Afghanistan to 100 in quick time. Notably, Afghanistan were 55 for 0 at he end over 10 moves as the two openers assessed the conditions and refrained from taking risks on a slow pitch. However, both Gurbaz and Ibrahim cut loose after the drinks break and changed gears.
Azmatullah Omarzai chipped in with a 13-ball 22 that proved crucial for Afghanistan to push their total toward 160.
Afghanistan will next face Papua New Guinea on June 13 in Trinidad before facing West Indies in their final league game on June 17 in St Lucia.