New Zealand Beats Afghanistan To Remain Unbeaten In World Cup 2023

(CTN News) – At Chennai’s M A Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday, New Zealand thumped Afghanistan by 149 runs to secure their fourth consecutive win in the ongoing World Cup 2023 after securing a 149-run win in the match played against Afghanistan.

As they batted first, the Black Caps set Afghanistan a target of 289 runs, which they were unable to satisfy, and they were bowled out for 139 runs in the 35th over after a total of 289 runs had been set.

As a result of today’s win, New Zealand – who have been unbeaten so far in the tournament – now top the points table with eight points, as they have played four matches and won each of them.

On the tricky wicket of Chennai, which also troubled the New Zealand batters in the first innings of the match, Trent Boult and Matt Henry struck early blows to Afghanistan as they were chasing a massive target of 289 runs in the second innings.

With high hopes for their star opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the Afghans had high expectations for this match. However, the 21-year-old was bowled out for just 11 runs by Henry in the opening game.

With 36 off 62 balls, Rahmat Shah top scored for his team with an excellent score of 36, while the other batters were unable to deliver with the bat. The second top scorer was Azmat Omarzai, who tallied 27 runs to take the top spot.

As a result, the entire Afghanistan team New Zealand was dismissed for just 139 runs, thereby losing the game by a massive margin of 149 runs.

A lot of the Black Caps’ bowlers gave an all-round performance with all of them – with the exception of Glenn Phillips – taking at least one wicket between them.

There were three catches by Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson, while Boult, Henry and Rachin Ravindra each picked up one apiece.

The New Zealanders, who batted first on Wednesday, posted a colossal 289-run target and Hashmatullah Shahidi’s men have no one to blame but themselves for their performance.

There were five instances during the match in which Afghanistan’s fielders dropped catches, giving an increasing number of chances to Glenn Phillips and Tom Latham, who rescued the Kiwis from a 110-4 deficit and went on to score 144 runs together.

A total of 71 runs were scored by Phillips off 80 runs, while 68 runs were scored by Latham off 74 runs. In the remaining damage, Mark Chapman played a quick knock, scoring 25 off 12 with three boundaries.

After Omarzai took two wickets in an over, Afghanistan became the frontrunner, but dropped catches negated all their opportunities.

Afghanistan entered this match on a high note after defeating England by 69 runs, however a loss can put them back to where they were during the World Cup.

In the next match of the tournament, New Zealand will face India, another unbeaten team.

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