Abu Dhabi: New Zealand sealed a 8 wicket victory over Afghanistan in Super 12, Group 1 to book their place in the semifinal of the ICC World T20 in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
The victory for the Kiwis also confirmed India’s elimination from the tournament. The Blackcaps went to 8 points while India even if managed to beat Namibia on Monday would end the group at 6.
New Zealand were good in the both the departments first restricting Afghanistan to 124/7 before chasing it down with ease in 18.1 overs.
Afghanistan’s innings was achored by Najibullah Zadran who smashed a 48 ball 73 under tough circumstances. Afghans lost their top order within the powerplay and were wallowing at one point at 56/4. However, Zadran, the lanky south-paw rode on a different route scoring run at will while pairing up well with Mohammad Nabi(14) stitching a crucial 59 run stand although the Afghan skipper was more of a spectator in that period.
Zadran could have finished off the innings at positive note but he fell in the 19th over thanks superb to an effort from James Neesham diving forward to take a difficult catch. The Kiwi all-rounder contributed well in the next over, the penultimate one of the innings where he gave just a couple of runs while taking a wicket as well to restrict the Afghans to 124/7.
The Kiwi pace duo of Trent Boult(3/17) and Tim Southee(2/24) again showed their quality reminding everyone why they are such a formidable unit together.
In reply, The Kiwis chased down the slender target in overs. Despite losing Daryll Mitchell(17) early on, skipper Kane Williamson(40*) and Martin Guptill(28)held the innings together although the later got absolutely bamboozled by Rashid Khan. Afghan bowlers though did manage to stretch the game a bit thanks to their spinners Rashid Khan(1/27) and Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman(1/31).
However, Williamson who anchored the innings remained unbeaten at the end to seal the deal while Devon Conway(36*) also made a useful contribution.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 125/2 in 18.1 overs (Kane Williamson 40*,Devon Conway 39*, Rashid Khan 1/27) beat Afghanistan 124/7 in 20 overs (Najibullah Zardan 73, Gulbadin Naib 15; Trent Boult 3/17, Tim Southee 2/24) by 8 wickets.
