Afghanistan lost his last match against New Zealand and booked back to home with out any big victory of strong teams. Afghanistan lost all three top matches against Pakistan, India and New Zealand while victories were against Namibia, Scotland only. Muhammad Nabi who were reluctant to answer a question regarding future of Afghanistan and declared that Adrees Malik’s (Editor Sports Current Line International) question a political one gave a bad lesson to his team members by deciding to bowl first against India after winning the toss which lived Indian hopes for the Semi. Kane Williamson is the man who drowned Indian hopes to reach semi and now India’s match against Namibia is nothing more than dead rubber.
Muhammad Nabi is facing swear criticism from Social media on his bad decision of bowling first against India because from that decision Afghanistan dropped their confidence as well as net run rate which were on top in the group two of ICC Super 12 stage teams.
ICC Match Report on New Zealand v Afghanistan
New Zealand secured their spot in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 semi-finals with a convincing eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi.
Kane Williamson and Devon Conway’s unbeaten 68-run partnership for the third wicket guided the Black Caps to victory with 11 balls to spare, solidifying their position as one of the two Group 2 qualifiers along with Pakistan, and ending India’s hopes in the process.
Afghanistan started the match with hopes of qualifying themselves, but a poor beginning with the bat left them struggling at 19 for three.
Najibullah Zadran’s brilliant 73 created a comeback, but Trent Boult continued his exceptional form with the ball, taking three wickets for 17 runs, restricting Afghanistan to 124 for eight.
Despite losing both openers in their reply, Williamson and Conway, who remained unbeaten on 40 and 36 respectively, guided their team to victory comfortably, setting up a semi-final clash with either England or Australia.
Afghanistan opted to bat upon winning the toss but saw both openers dismissed in quick succession as New Zealand’s fast bowlers gained an early stranglehold.
Mohammad Shahzad was caught brilliantly behind the stumps by Devon Conway while attempting an upper-cut off Adam Milne. Soon after, Trent Boult induced a leading edge from Hazratullah Zazai, whose dismissal left Afghanistan struggling at 12 for two.
Tim Southee then made an impact by dismissing Rahmanullah Gurbaz lbw, leaving Afghanistan at 23 for three by the end of the powerplay. This total marked the third lowest score after six overs in the tournament thus far.
Najibullah settled in more smoothly than his predecessors at the crease and got the scoreboard moving with consecutive boundaries off Jimmy Neesham.
Another boundary off Ish Sodhi took Afghanistan past 50 but the spinner struck back in somewhat fortuitous fashion when a short ball was chopped on to his stumps by Gulbadin Naib.
His departure saw Afghanistan reach the halfway point on 56 for four and Najibullah was content to nudge singles before stepping on the accelerator once more in the 14th over.
Najibullah Zadran regained momentum with two sixes off Mitchell Santner, clearing long-on and deep midwicket respectively, pushing the run rate back above six. Shortly after, Najibullah reached his second half-century of the tournament, achieving this one from 33 balls.
He struck another boundary off Southee as Afghanistan sought crucial late runs, but the seamer claimed his second wicket by taking a return catch to dismiss Mohammad Nabi for 14.
The ever-reliable Boult then brought Najibullah’s fine innings to an end, Neesham taking a fine diving catch at long-off, and also accounted for Karim Janat in a typically clinical death over.
Neesham closed out the innings by conceding just two runs in the final over, which also saw him dismiss Rashid Khan off the last ball, leaving Afghanistan to set the Black Caps a target of 125 runs to win.
Knowing victory would be enough on its own, without net run-rate entering the equation, Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell made a steady start to the chase to lay the foundations.
Mitchell cut the returning Mujeeb Ur Rahman to the point boundary but with the opening partnership worth 26, the spinner had his revenge in his next over by finding the batter’s outside edge.
Williamson joined Guptill to safely negotiate the remainder of the powerplay, which concluded with consecutive Guptill boundaries off Mujeeb to take New Zealand to 45 for one.
However, the opener struggled against Rashid and was dismissed while attempting a big shot against the spinner. Rashid celebrated his 400th T20 wicket, providing his team with renewed optimism.
With Nabi’s off-breaks proving just as hard to get away, the Black Caps reached the halfway point of the chase on 61 for two – just five runs better off than Afghanistan at the same stage.
Afghanistan maintained pressure by bringing in close fielders as the required run rate approached seven an over. Williamson’s shot through the leg-side off Rashid in the middle of the 12th over marked New Zealand’s first boundary in 33 balls.
Williamson’s typically elegant drive off Gulbadin earned the Black Caps skipper four more runs. Conway followed up by effectively sweeping Nabi for consecutive boundaries and then reverse sweeping Rashid through third man for more runs.
The 50-run partnership was reached in the 16th over as Williamson and Conway continued steering their side towards victory. Conway then secured the winning single down the ground from the first ball of the 19th over, confirming his side’s advancement.
New Zealand will now wait until the conclusion of Pakistan’s clash with Scotland to discover their semi-final opponents.
Should Pakistan win, New Zealand will finish second and take on England in Semi Final 1 in Abu Dhabi on 10 November.
If Scotland win and New Zealand top their group, they will face Australia in Semi Final 2 in Dubai the following day.
Scores in brief
New Zealand beat Afghanistan at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi by eight wickets
Afghanistan 124/8 in 20 overs (Najibullah Zadran 73; Trent Boult 3/17, Tim Southee 2/24)
New Zealand 125/2 in 18.1 overs (Kane Williamson 40 not out, Devon Conway 36 not out; Rashid Khan 1/27, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 1/31)
Player of the Match: Trent Boult (New Zealand)
