CWC2023::Santner and Phillips guide NZ to massive 149-run win over AFG
Delhi: New Zealand successfully defended 288/6 to win their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup clash at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai against Afghanistan. Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bowl first against New Zealand in the World Cup match in Chennai.
Trent Boult and Matt Henry struck early as Afghanistan lost openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran cheaply in the 289-run chase. Following the dismissals the two speedsters combined to deliver three consecutive maidens as Afghanistan accumulated 28/2 in the first 10 overs. Lockie Ferguson then injected a third blow as he removed Hashmatullah Shahidi for 8(29).Mitchell Santner, who became the second New Zealand bowler to take 100 wickets, removed Mohammad Nabi, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Fazalhaq Farooqi as New Zealand defeated Afghanistan by 149 runs.
Prior to that, Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips each blasted half centuries to aid New Zealand in amassing a formidable 288/6 in 50 overs. In the same over, Latham scored 68 (74), while Phillips slammed 71 (80) before being dismissed by Naveen-ul-Haq. Poor fielding by Afghanistan during the course of the inning allowed New Zealand to benefit to some extent from their opponent’s squandered opportunities. Later, Mark Chapman made a late-game contribution by scoring 25 runs off 12 deliveries.
Afghanistan was aiming to beat New Zealand in a spin-friendly Chepauk after shocking the defending champions England by 69 runs. On the other side, New Zealand entered the match fresh off of a convincing victory over Bangladesh. The Kiwis defeated Afghanistan to keep their perfect record intact. With the victory, New Zealand also moved into first place overall in the World Cup standings.
