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In a major upset, Afghanistan thumped New Zealand on Saturday in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 at the Providence Stadium in Georgetown, Guyana.
Chasing the target of 160 runs, New Zealand fell far short of it and were bowled out for 75 in 15.2 overs. Only two New Zealand batters could reach double figures. Glenn Phillips could score 18 off 18 balls and Matt Henry hit 12 off 17 deliveries.
Pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi set the tone for the New Zealand innings when he bowled out Finn Allen on the first ball of the match. He took four wickets. Captain Rashid Khan was another destroyer with the ball for Afghanistan as he also claimed four wickets.
Earlier, New Zealand invited Afghanistan to bat first. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, playing a brilliant innings, lifted his team’s total to 159 at the loss of six wickets
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the highlight of the game as he scored 80 off 56 balls with the help of five boundaries and as many maximums. Gurbaz was followed by Ibrahim Zadran who hit two maximums and three fours to score 44 runs off 41 balls.
Meantime, Azmatullah Omarzai played 13 balls to score 22 runs. Captain Rashid Khan returned to the pavilion after hitting 6 runs.
Trent Boult and Matt Henry claimed two wickets each.
This was the 14th game in the ongoing premier cricket tournament. New Zealand hit the ground for the first time in the event. Meanwhile, Afghanistan beat Uganda in their tournament opener.
“One of the greatest performances from us in T20I cricket against a big team. It is a great team effort. The way Ibrahim and Gurbaz started again…the wicket was not easy. They did not throw away their wickets in overs 7-10. Great win for Afghanistan and it is a privilege to be leading this side and winning against NZ,” Rashid said after the match.
“Anything around 160-170, with the bowling unit we have, we will give tough competition to the opposition, as long as we hit the right areas consistently. The spinners and especially the seamers, the way Nabi bowled the second over – that gave us a sign the ball was turning. The skill we have as a bowling unit, if we use that, it will be hard for the opposition to score 160,” he added.
Teams:
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan(c), Karim Janat, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Devon Conway(w), Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson
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