Trent Boult starred with the bowl as New Zealand defeated Afghanistan by eight wickets in the Group 2 encounter of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, here at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Trent Boult scalped three wickets and gave just 17 runs in his entire four overs spell and restricted Afghanistan at 124/8. On the other hand, skipper Kane Williamson also played an unbeaten knock of 40 runs. This marks the end of Afghanistan’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 campaign along with India as they were dependant on Afghanistan’s victory in order to qualify for the semi-finals.
With this victory, New Zealand has made their place in the semi-finals of the ongoing T20 World Cup.
Chasing 125, New Zealand faced no difficulties as they slowly and steadily moved towards victory. Openers Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell anchored the innings but the latter was later dismissed by Mujeeb ur Rehman in the fourth over, leaving the team’s total at 26/1.
Following Daryl’s dismissal, skipper Kane Williamson took the charge alongside Guptill to steady the ship for the Blackcaps. Just when Kiwis gained control of the match, Guptill departed in the ninth over by Rashid Khan.
It was later Williamson and Devon Conway’s partnership that led New Zealand to the finishing line with 11 balls to spare.
Earlier opting to bat first, Najibullah Zadran made a determined half-century but found little support from his teammates as Afghanistan were held to 124/8.
The four New Zealand pace bowlers shared seven wickets among themselves, with Trent Boult the pick of the lot with 3/17.
PLEASED WITH TEAM, SAYS NZ SKIPPER
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said the Black Caps had really pleasing outing against Nabi’s men ahead of the “strong challenge” posed by England in the semi-final match in this world cup.
Williamson in the post-match presentation said: “It was a strong performance. We know how dangerous this Afghanistan side is, they have got match-winners in all departments. It was nice to set the tone with the ball first up, take some early wickets which is always good and restricting them to a below-par score on a 150-155 surface.”
“In the second innings, we knew there were big threats to navigate and we tried to suck things up and get as close as we could. We would have batted first today, it’s not been the case in a number of the surfaces here. It’s certainly been a challenge to adjust quickly playing at three different venues. That’s the beauty of the game,” he added.
“We know we have got another strong challenge coming up in a few days time but really pleasing outing today for the team. Great fielding effort as well, that was outstanding. With the day games, it’s important to set the tone in the park and bring that energy and we saw that from everybody.”
“They (England) are a very strong side, for us it’s important we keep learning and focus on the sort of cricket we want to play. It’s been an incredibly tough competition and we’ve seen a lot of tight games as well. We are looking forward to the occasion,” he added.
END ON A HIGH FOR INDIA
Knocked out of contention for a place in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, India will look to play for pride when they step out on the field against Namibia under Virat Kohli’s leadership for one last time in T20Is. The game will also see Ravi Shastri wear the head coach’s hat for one final time in what has been an impactful journey for the duo of Kohli and Shastri.
With Kohli deciding to relinquish T20I captaincy after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and Shastri’s term coming to an end, India will look to keep the disappointment of missing out on a semi-final spot by finishing the T20 World Cup campaign on a winning note. With New Zealand beating Afghanistan on Sunday, India’s hopes of making it to the semi-final were dashed and the Kohli-led side will now play a dead rubber against Namibia on Monday.
Victory against Namibia will also ensure that Kohli’s last game as captain in the shortest format ends on a winning note as does the journey of bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 124/8 (Najibullah Zadran 73, Gulbadin Naib 15; Rashid Khan 1-27) vs New Zealand 125/2 (Kane Williamson 40*, Devon Conway 36*; Trent Boult 3-17).