ODI World Cup 2023

'Ye kaun sa Afghanistan aa gya aaj - Fans react as New Zealand record thumping win against Afghanistan by 149 runs

The match ended up in a one-sided affair as the New Zealand side registered a thumping victory. The Kiwis won the match by 149 runs and with this win the New Zealand side went top of the points table.

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Sarah Andrew
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New Zealand (Source: Twitter)

The match number 16 of the ODI World Cup 2023 saw the runner-up of the 2019 edition of the World Cup, New Zealand taking on Afghanistan at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The match ended up in a one-sided affair as the New Zealand side registered a thumping victory. The Kiwis won the match by 149 runs and with this win the New Zealand side went top of the points table. This is the fourth straight win for Tom Latham’s led side.

Before the match, Tom Latham was replaced as the skipper for New Zealand in the absence of Kane Williamson who sustained a fracture. The Afghanistan skipper, Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and elected to bowl first citing that there might be dew coming in later in the day. The bowling department who were on a high after their brilliant bowling performance against England, started well. The off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman drew the first blood when he got the important wicket of Devon Conway in the seventh over.

But after that, Will Young (54) and Rachin Ravindra (32) built on a crucial partnership of 79 runs. But it was the over of Azmatullah Omarzai that swung the balance in the favour of Afghanistan. Omarzai struck twice in that over, picking up the wickets of both the set batters. In the very next over, Rashid Khan also got the wicket of dangerous Daryl Mitchell (1). At one stage, the Afghanistan side had New Zealand at 110/4 but the skipper Tom Latham (68) and Glenn Phillips (71) steadied the ship for Kiwis. The duo stitched a partnership of 144 runs for the fifth wicket. Along with that some range hitting at the death overs from Mark Chapman (25 runs off 12 balls) ensured that New Zealand reached a par total on the pitch of 288.

Afghanistan crumbles under pressure

In the pursuit of a tough total, the Afghanistan side looked to get through the tough phase of seeing off the initial burst from Trent Boult and Matt Henry. But this was not to be the case as Matt Henry struck in the third over of the spell by uprooting the wickets of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (11) who was looking brilliant in the middle. Trent Boult too stuck in the very next over claiming the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran (14). Then the skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (8) and Rahmat Shah (36) tried to steady the ship for the Afghanistan team. However, it was Mitchell Santer’s breathtaking catch that saw Shahidi depart.

However, as soon as the skipper departed Omarzai joined Rahmat Shah and started showing great intent of run-making. But as so often as it has been the case throughout the innings, Omarzai was dismissed by a beautiful delivery from Trent Boult. As soon as this wicket fell, there was a domino effect of wickets which saw Afghanistan from being at 106/4 at one stage to bundle out at 139 runs. Lockie Ferguson was the pick of New Zealand bowling with 3/19 in his seven over followed by Santer who picked up 3/39. Glenn Phillips was awarded Player of the Match award for his brilliant batting display. 

 Let us know look at how Twitter has reacted to this victory from New Zealand;