NZ vs AFG, T20 World Cup: New Zealand Beat Afghanistan, Shut India's Hope of Advancing To Semifinal

ICC T20 WC 2021, NZ vs AFG: Najibullah Zadran's fiery fifty propelled Afghanistan to 124/8 in 20 overs. Chasing the target, New Zealand attained win inside 18.1 overs after losing just 2 wickets.

New Delhi: New Zealand defeated Afghanistan by 8 wickets to make it to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. After New Zealand's resounding win over Afghanistan, team India's hope of reaching the semi-finals has ended. After Pakistan, New Zealand are now second team from Group 2 to enter the semi-finals. 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 fiery fifty propelled Afghanistan to 124/8 in 20 overs. Chasing the target, New Zealand attained win inside 18.1 overs after losing just 2 wickets.

For New Zealand, captain Kane Williamson played an unbeaten innings of 40 runs off 42 balls with the help of 3 fours and also shared an unbeaten 68-run partnership for the third wicket with Devon Conway (36 *), who hit 4 fours off 32 balls. Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman bagged 1 wicket apiece for Afghanistan.

Chasing the target of 125 runs, Blackcaps lost their first wicket on the score of 26 runs. Opener Daryl Mitchell (17) was caught by Mohammad Shahzad behind the wicket by 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 remarkable innings of 73 runs as the star batter scored 73 runs off 48 balls with the help of 6 fours and 3 sixes. Apart from him, only Gulbadin Naib and skipper Nabi could score in double digits among Afghanistan batters. Trent Boult took the maximum 3 wickets for New Zealand while Tim Southee got 2 wickets.