Guyana (USA): Afghanistan rode on to captain Rashid Khan and Fazalhaq Farooqi's four-fors to clinch a demolishing 84-run victory over the formidable New Zealand side in the Group C match of the ongoing ninth edition of the T20 World Cup 2024 at the Province Stadium here on Saturday.
After posting the commendable 160-run target, Afghan bowled did a fantabulous job for bundling out the 2021 runners-up for 75. Fazalhaq Farooqi once again displayed his prowess with the new ball, claiming three key wickets upfront. He then came to bowl the 16th over and picked the wicket of Matt Henry on the second ball to complete his second four-fur (4/17) this edition on the trot. With this exceptional performance, the left-arm pacer has become the first Afghanistan bowler to take 4+ wickets in consecutive T20 WC matches.
The Kiwis batters had no answers to the questions asked by the Afghan captain, leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who bamboozled the Black Caps middle order. Rashid picked the four wickets in the likes of captain Kane Williamson, Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, and Lockie Ferguson. He became the skipper with the best bowling figures in the marquee event. They bowled out New Zealand for a mere 75-run total, the lowest team total for the Williamson-led side while the first defeat was against Afghanistan in T20 World Cups.
The struggle of New Zealand was seen with the scorecard as only two batters -- Mitchell and Henry managed to reach the double digits. The target 160 was always going to be a challenging chase for the Kiwis, who haven't played any cricket together since the commencement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 and looked rusty. They've been woefully short of match practice in recent times and they simply crumbled under pressure.
The left-arm pacer sent Finn Allen back to the pavilion on the first ball of the innings, then deceived Devon Conway with a slower delivery to give a sitter to Ibrahim Zadran at short cover in his second over. He then induced the outside edge of Daryl Mitchell's bat in his third over, leaving the Kiwis reeling at 28/3. Rashid Khan brought himself into the attack and Williamson played a nice dab, but ended up giving a straightforward catch to Gulbadin Naib in the slips.
In the next over, Rashid picked two wickets in back-to-back balls. Chapman went for a pull shot, but he wasn't that short and lost his middle stump. Bracewell was then caught in front of the stumps as the review couldn't save him.
Off-spinner Nabi then came into the action and dismissed the Black Caps' top scorer Phillips for 18, who holed out too long on. He then found the gap between the bat and pad of Mitchell Santner to pick the Kiwi's eighth wicket. Ferguson gave catching practice to Rashid Khan on his own bowling. Matt Henry and Trent Boult tried to avoid the inevitable, but Farooqi had the last laugh. Henry then lost his patience and tried to whack it out of the ground and lost his wicket.
Earlier, Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran registered the second consecutive century partnership (103) for the first wicket. Gurbaz topped the scoring chart with 80 off 56 balls while Zadran accumulated 44 off 41 balls. Azmatullah then played his part as well, scoring 22 off just 13 balls and boosting the run rate. Boult emerged as the best bowler for New Zealand with 2/22 in his four overs and got great support from Matt Henry, who claimed two wickets as well.
Afghanistan are on cloud nine, not only do they have two wins on the bounce, but they've a superb net run rate and have almost one foot into the playoffs. On the other hand, this loss will hurt New Zealand and it means their next match against West Indies has become a must-win.
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