Afghanistan, scoring 159 for 6 (Gurbaz 80, Ibrahim 44, Boult 2-22, Henry 2-37), defeated New Zealand, who managed only 75 (Phillips 18, Rashid 4 for 17, Farooqi 4 for 17), by 84 runs.
Afghanistan enhanced their Super Eight prospects with a commanding victory over New Zealand by 84 runs in Providence. Following their 125-run triumph over Uganda in the opener, they now lead Group C with a net run rate of 5.225.
Sent to bat first, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran provided Afghanistan with a solid start of 103 in 14.3 overs. This performance followed their 154-run partnership against Uganda, marking them as the first opening duo to achieve back-to-back century stands in T20 World Cup history.
The innings for Afghanistan was a tale of two halves: 55 without loss in the initial ten overs and 104 for 6 in the subsequent ten, with Gurbaz making 80 from 56 deliveries. New Zealand, opting out of warm-up matches, appeared out of form, with several dropped catches and missed chances for run-outs.
Given the pitch’s support for both seamers and spinners, a target of 160 was challenging. However, New Zealand’s collapse was unexpectedly dramatic.
