New Delhi: New Zealand defeated Afghanistan by 8 wickets to make it to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. Team India’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals have ended after New Zealand’s thumping win over Afghanistan. After Pakistan, New Zealand is now the second team to enter the semi-finals from Group 2. The four teams that have reached the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup are England, Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan.
Talking about this match, Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi won the toss and decided to bat first. Najibullah Zadran’s half-century took Afghanistan to 124/8 in 20 overs. Chasing the target, New Zealand won in 18.1 overs losing just 2 wickets.
For New Zealand, captain Kane Williamson played an unbeaten knock of 40 runs off 42 balls with the help of 3 fours and also shared an unbeaten 68 runs for the third wicket with Devon Conway (36*), who hit 4 fours for 32 runs. . Balls Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman took one wicket each for Afghanistan.
Chasing the target of 125 runs, the Blackcaps lost their first wicket at the score of 26 runs. Opener Daryl Mitchell (17) was caught behind the wicket by Mohammad Shahzad at the hands of Mujeeb ur Rahman. Mitchell hit 3 fours in 12 balls. After this Martin Guptill and captain Kane Williamson together took the score beyond 50 runs. Guptill scored 28 runs in 23 balls with the help of 4 fours.
Batting first, Najibullah played a brilliant innings of 73 runs and the star batsman scored 73 runs in 48 balls with the help of 6 fours and 3 sixes. Apart from him, only Gulbadin Naib and captain Nabi could score in double digits among Afghanistan’s batsmen. Trent Boult took 3 wickets for New Zealand while Tim Southee got 2 wickets.
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