New Zealand vs Afghanistan Highlights, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: NZ beats AFG by 149 runs

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New Zealand vs Afghanistan, ICC World Cup 2023: NZ thrashes high-flying AFG by 149 runs to maintain unbeaten streak

NZ clinches 149-run win over Afghanistan; Latham, Phillips fifties, Henry, Boult 3-fers lead charge.

Santner opens with a ripper of a delivery. Latham gets a change of glove. Nabi slashes hard to get four runs thanks to a big edge. Santner gets his 100th ODI wicket; turns away after pitching and clips the top of off. Nabi departs.

There is a slip in place for Rashid, who gets off the mark immediately.

Ferguson bowls a maiden over.

A strike from Rashid thunders into the sightscreen. The audience is up on its feet.

Two short balls followed by a fuller delivery sees the back of Rashid Khan. Mitchell at cover settles underneath as Rashid walks for 8. They are all falling in a heap at the moment. Mujeeb holes out to Young in the deep. It’s two for Lockie in the over.

Santner to bowl the 35th. The “Kohli! Kohli!” chat gets to Naveen’s head? The weirdest of reverse sweeps balloons to Chapman at short third.

And just like that... it is all over. Mitchell, at slip, pouches one as Farooqi gets a thick edge.

A little touch en route to Latham and Azmat is a goner for 27. Ikram Alikhil, who played a monumental knock against England the other day, walks in.

A 100 comes up for Afghanistan as Rahmat uses his feet to steer the ball away towards deep extra cover and steal a double. Rahmat creams a drive through cover for four.

Rahmat is OUT! Question is whether it was a bump ball, but the replays confirm it wasn’t. Rahmat falls. It is a fair catch. The batter lobbed a sitter to Rachin Ravindra. Nabi in at 7.

Daryl Mitchell puts in a dive in the deep, but the ball will speed past for a boundary.

Ferguson returns and his first delivery is a bouncer that makes Nabi duck. One of Ferguson’s deliveries skids on and Ikram uses the pace well to direct the ball towards the fence.

Rachin Ravindra with his left-arm spin now. Around the wicket against the Afghan batters. Not much spin, but he bowls with good control. Just three runs from the over.

Wild swing from Azmat against Phillips. Takes an edge and runs away to the third man boundary. A tiny glimpse of intent from the Afghan batters as they try to take on the part-time bowlers.

Rahmat steps down against Phillips. Hits it straight back and narrowly past the bowler. Just a single though.

Short from Rachin and Azmat cuts it away for a four. Welcome boundary for Afghanistan.

Ferguson with another miserly over. Just two runs from the 16th over.

Santner finally errs his length. It is short and Rahmat pulls it over mid wicket for a four.

Ferguson meanwhile continues with short-ball barrage, offering no chance to the Afghan batters to free their arms.

Glenn Phillips is the latest New Zealand bowler to have a go.

The required rate for Afghanistan is shooting up with each passing overs.

Bouncer from Ferguson. Shahidi can manage a top edge. The ball floats beyond Santner at short mid wicket. He chase it down and gets hold off it with a diving catch.

Brilliant.

Hashmatullah Shahidi c Santner b Ferguson 8 (29b 1x4 0x6)

AFG 48/3 in 15 overs

Santner with his first over. Wide in the off side and Rahmat slashes it away for a couple of runs. Full from Santner and Shahidi lofts him over mid off for a four. Much needed momentum for the Afghan chase.

Lockie Ferguson from the other end now. He hits the hard length, offering both the batters not much room to work with.

The runs are not just flowing in for Afghanistan. Santner flights one in and it almost spins past the Shahidi’s defence.

Afghanistan in a huge spot of bother. Shahidi and Rahmat Shah are the new batters out in the middle. They need to weather this tought opening spell from Boult and Henry.

CHANCE!!

Boult surprises Rahmat with a bouncer. Seems like there was an edge there. The ball pops up of the helmet and goes above and beyond Boult. He can’t twist and turn in time to make the catch. Rahmat continues after a concussion test.

The runs have dried up completely for Afghanistan. Just one run in the last four overs for them.

Ibrahim Zadran follows his opening partner. On the stumps from Boult. Zadran tries to nudge it to the leg side. But can only manage a leading edge. Easy catch for Santner.

Ibrahim Zadran c Santner b Boult 14 (15b 2x4 0x6)

Full from Henry and Gurbaz threw everything at it. SIX OVER LONG OFF!!!

But Henry has the last laugh. Pitches one on the good length and moves it just enough to kiss Gurbaz’s inside edge and crash onto the stumps.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz b Henry 11 (21b 0x4 1x6)

New Zealand burns one review early on. Boult strikes Gurbaz on the back pad. They go upstairs. But the ball was pitching way down on the leg side.

Matt Henry from the other end. He gets one to swing past Gurbaz’s inside edge. This time New Zealand doesn’t go for a review.

Finally, a loosener from the New Zealand pacers. A tinge too short on the off side and Zadran crashes it over the covers for the first four of the innings. Henry responds with a couple of well-directed bouncers, forcing Zadran to duck.

Gurbaz and Zadran begin the chase for Afghanistan. A lot will hinge on how well the duo can start the innings.

Rashid misses an opportunity now! Phillips didn’t quite middle it on this occasion. Rashid keeps his eyes on the ball while running back from the 30-yard circle but ends up losing his footing right at the final moment.

Latham anticipates the slower delivery and pulls it towards backward square leg. He moves within a single off his half-century. He eventually gets to the mark with a single.

Back over the bowler’s head... Latham coming into his own. Six! That’s another, the shackles have come off. Afghanistan’s good work is coming undone. The 250 comes up with an audacious scoop from Latham. One bounce and into the boundary.

Phillips falls to a poor full toss from Naveen. Finally, a successful catch, as Rashid shows others how it is done. You’ve got to feel for him; he had had quite a few drops off his bowling today.

TWO IN THE OVER! The sticks light up as Latham looks to go for the scoop again. Santner joins Chapman.

Time for a Santner special in front of his home (IPL) crowd? Naveen bowls a slower one to cap off an excellent over. Three runs and two wickets off the 48th.

Chapman greets Azmat and his misdirected full toss with a four. It is a no ball as well, salt to the wound. The free hit though is only worth a single. With the long-off standing white, Chapman throws his bat at one and it races away to the rope. Picked up and carted over the leg-side. Bowled right in the slot, and it was meant to disappear the moment it came off the bat.

Rashid’s committed effort in the deep keeps it down to 2 off the first ball of the last over. Naveen is mixing it up well to keep the boundaries from coming. Santner ends the innings with a four. New Zealand would be happy to have rescued itself from the precarious place it once found itself in.

A googly bowled into the pads and Phillips has pulled this in front of square.

A nod of approval from Phillips as one of Rashid’s deliveries sharply spins away from the batter. He mouth a visible “Woah!” and gestures an ovation for the spinner.

A reverse sweep from Latham and another sitter goes down. Mujeeb has a history of misses. Rashid is just looking away now, maybe to avoid saying something unpleasant to his teammate.

It gets worse... 94m six! Mujeeb loops it up, and Phillips unleashes the slog sweep.

The 200 comes up for NZ. Eight an over from here, would get the side past 260.

ANOTHER DROP! AND THIS TIME IT IS THE SKIPPER... The commentator quips, “They are starting to make Australia look good.” Another regulation take has been spilled owing to a mistimed jump.

Phillips gets to his fifty with a single. The 100-run partnership also comes up after a few deliveries.

Farooqi returns. The idea would be to bowl to his field. Oops, that’ll be a freebie - wide. A length ball, from around the wicket, falls right in Phillips’ arc and it has been deposited into the stands. Two in a row! This time it has gone further. Farooqi buries his face in his hands.

The sun has just started to set behind the I, J, K stands, which means it is going to get a tad pleasant. New Zealand has been in Chennai for nine days now, which means it would be more comfortable of the two sides in these tough conditions.

An over of seam with Farooqi conceding four singles.

Rashid will be bowling from the other end. Gurbaz rushes in from the boundary and ends up fumbling an opportunity to keep it down to a single. As the batters go for a second, Rashid doesn’t seem to be too happy with Gurbaz’s effort. Ump’s call on impact and wicket as Phillips survives an LBW appeal. Rashid’s second googly rolls down to the fence. Phillips dabs it fine.

A streaky outside edge off the bat of Phillips. There is no slip in place and it would just go for a single.

Phillips and Latham aren’t too bothered to go for boundaries right now. They only seem to be interested in keeping the scoreboard ticking, which prompts the DJ to ask the audience to chant, “We want sixer!”

Mujeeb walks in to bowl his sixth. Latham responds to Phillips’ call for a quick single and makes it home safely. Four runs come off the over.

Nabi returns. Latham’s on strike. The stand-in skipper is still trying to get to the other end, for he would want Phillips to take on the off-spinner. He manages a single, and that will be the only run coming from these six balls.

Goes all the way, a faster 100.8kmph delivery from Mujeeb has been tickled fine by Latham. Four! The next delivery has been hit straight down the ground. Latham asks Phillips to push for two.

Over the head of Azmat at deep midwicket. He went after it whole-heartedly but the execution could have been better. Just when it seemed Nabi was getting away with a maiden over, Latham goes for a maximum.

Mujeeb turns his first delivery away from Phillips. Gurbaz and Ikram have a lengthy conversation, which seems to be on the subject of cutting down the singles.

Rashid continues to pull the strings. Around the wicket against Latham. The Kiwi batter brings out the sweep shot to collect a double.

Azmat continues on from the other end. Top edge from Phillips. But it lands just short of thr fielder at deep fine leg.

Nabi reintroduced into the attack. Young and Rachin had attacked him in his first spell. But now he gets a maiden in as New Zealand’s run rate continues to plummet.

Phillips slashes one onto the off side for a four against Azmat to break the pressure. Nabi now against Phillips. Starts with a couple of dot balls. Phillips manages to sneak an edge and it runs away for a four past the keeper.

New Zealand was cruising at 109/1 in 20 overs with Rachin Ravindra and Will Young looking well set. But in nine balls, they lost three wickets, adding just one run.

Skipper Latham and Phillips have a job in their hands.

Azmat follows up his double wicket over with another tidy one. Only two runs from his second over.

Rashid keeps the pressure as he ties down Phillips with five dot balls on the trot.

SOFT DISMISSAL!!

Short from Rashid and Mitchell hits it straight to mid wicket. New Zealand has lost three wickets in the space of 10 balls.

Daryl Mitchell c Ibrahim Zadran b Rashid Khan 1 (7b 0x4 0x6)

What a catch from Ikram!

Azmat jags one back in and it takes an inside edge off Young. Keeper Ikram Alikhil is forced to make a low dive to his left and he makes the catch. Afghanistan well and truly back into this game.

Will Young c †Ikram Alikhil b Azmatullah Omarzai 54 (64b 4x4 3x6)

Azmat gets his first over of the day. He goes fast and he goes straight. Rachin Ravindra swings across the line. He misses the ball completely and he loses his middle stump.

Rachin Ravindra b Azmatullah Omarzai 32 (41b 2x4 1x6)

Rashid Khan gets his first over. An uncharacteristic short balll to start with. Young puts it away with ease. FOUR!! Fazal seems to have hurt himself while trying to stop that shot with a dive. He needs medical attention. But all seems fine.

Naveen continues to toil away from the other end. He misses his length for once. Full on the off side and Rachin smacks it through the covers for a four.

Will Young gets another loosener from Rashid. Agian, it is sliced behind point. Four and that is his fifty. New Zealand innings picking up pace.

Again full from Naveen and smoked over mid off by Rachin Ravindra. FOUR!!

Rachin Ravindra takes his time to get going. He gets his first run only on his ninth ball. Young too is unable to find the boundaries as the run rate gets close to dropping below four.

Young decides to defuse the pressure. He dances down the track against Nabi and pummels him over long on for a massive six. Rachin decides to join the fun as he too lobs Nabi over long on for another six.

Naveen keeps it tight with a five-run over. Afghanistan needs to break this partnership before it starts flourishing.

Young continues to target Nabi. Again jumps out and hits the off-spinner straight back for another six.

Fazal goes around the wicket. A tad short and Young happily dispatches it away for a four with a pull shot. Young then guides one past the first slip and it looked like it was running away for a four, before Naveen put in a diving stop at the outfield. Keeps it down to two runs.

Young reads Mujeeb’s length quite early. He drops back and cuts it expertly between point and cover point for a four. Naveen gets his first over. Economical start. Just one run from the over.

Young and Conway are setling down on an easy-going surface. They have coped with the accuracy of Fazal, opting to play him out.

Mujeeb once again errs his length. Conway picks the short ball early and hits a crisp cover drive off his back foot. FOUR!! Mujeeb pushes one through and it hits Conway square on the front pad. Umpire doesn’t give it out and Afghanistan reviews. It is all red and Conway has to walk back.

Devon Conway lbw b Mujeeb Ur Rahman 20 (18b 3x4 0x6)

Mujeeb starts off with a quiet over. Not much spin to start with. But he gives away just two runs.

Fazal from the other end. He was mighty impressive against England. He starts from over the wicket against Young. Decent swing for him. He moves one away from Young. Outside edge. That was a regulation catch. But Rahmat Shah drops it at first slip. Maiden for Fazal.

Mujeeb misses his line and Conway sweeps it away for the first four of the day. He adds one more four, this time against Fazal with a one-handed cover drive.

Mujeeb loops one in and Young has a swing at it. Over long-on for the first six of the day.

New Zealand openers Devon Conway and Will Young are out in the middle. They will look to give their side another good start.

Afghanistan starts off with Mujeeb.

Hashmatullah Shahidi, AFG skipper: We want to bowl first. There is the dew factor in the second half. We will look to restrict them to a low score. We had the celebration for that night (ENG vs AFG) but now it’s gone. We are going with the same team.

Tom Latham, NZ captain: Either way, wasn’t sure what to do. Looks like a good surface. Batting first will be good for us. Will Young comes in for Williamson. Adapting to every ground, every team, and every surface is important.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk/c), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

Afghanistan wins toss, opts to field.

The game will be played on Pitch No. 5 today. IND vs AUS was played on Pitch 6. Sunil Gavaskar says, “(The surface) looks like a belter. No grass on it. Spinners might get some help. Wrist spinners will be aided more than the finger spinners. The ball will skid on nicely. A short ball from the longer end will get wickets.”

Here are some stats from New Zealand vs Afghanistan games that you need to know.

NZ vs AFG head-to-head record in ODIs: New Zealand vs Afghanistan overall stats, most runs, wickets

NZ vs AFG, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Here are all the head-to-head stats and numbers you need to know ahead of the New Zealand vs Afghanistan match on Wednesday.

Wicketkeepers: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Devon Conway

Batters: Daryl Mitchell, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Glenn Phillips

All-rounders: Mohammad Nabi, Mitchell Santner, Rachin Ravindra (c)

Bowlers:Rashid Khan (vc), Trent Boult, Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman

Team composition: NZ 6-5 AFG | Credits left: 9.5

The New Zealand vs Afghanistan ICC World Cup 2023 match will be telecast on the Star Sports Network. It can also be live streamed on Disney+ Hotstar.

NEW ZEALAND: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (c/wk), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

AFGHANISTAN: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-H

NEW ZEALAND: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham (wk/c), Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Will Young, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi, James Neesham, Tim Southee

AFGHANISTAN: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Rahman, Riaz Hassan, Noor Ahmad

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