New Zealand vs Afghanistan Highlights, T20 World Cup 2024: Afghanistan beat New Zealand by 84 runs

"Yeah, look, firstly, congratulations to Afghanistan. They outplayed us in all facets of the game. To get a total like that on a fiddly surface, they kept wickets in hand and played it beautifully.

It wasn't good enough for us as a group to start a big tournament. It will be a quick turnaround for us, and we need to be ready for the next one. The boys were focused and worked hard in preparation for this game, but it was not our best performance.
 
We will have a chat about it, review it, and move on quickly. This is a long tournament, so we need to put this performance behind us and look forward to the next one. The games come thick and fast, and we need to be better. With the bat in hand, you want to get a partnership together. They were excellent. The opportunities we had and didn't take - on a surface like that, it goes a long way in changing the outcome. Not over-analysing but there are some things we need to address.

Having said that, we needed to put together a partnership, chasing 160. It was frustrating. Especially the fielding in the first 10 overs. It is difficult on a wicket like that when you are not putting things together in the field. 

We need to take a step forward. Next up for us is the West Indies. They are playing a fantastic brand of cricket.

Our performance was not good enough. We have another big challenge coming for us and it is about putting together a performance we can be proud of. Having said that, take nothing away from Afghanistan. They executed really well.

The opportunities we had and didn't take - on a surface like that go a long way in changing the outcome. We will examine our performance, but we must avoid overanalyzing. There are a certain things we will address in the meeting."  

"I think, nothing special than the win. We waited three years for this. We have played them in the past but couldn't get the job done. We will have to quickly put this win behind us and get back on the next job at hand.

The wicket was not easy, the total that we got was good. A bit frustrated because couldn't end the way I wanted to. The total in our mind was 130-140. Credit to bowlers, the way they bowled against a world class team like New Zealand.

We knew this is a very good partnership at the top. We discuss that when it is not my day, he takes on the bowler. When it is not his day, I do the attacking. 

My job is to keep everyone active on the ground. If I am not active, I make sure other players are loud and give energy to the bowlers."

Fazalhaq Farooqi (4/17) started the mayhem with the new ball, and Rashid Khan (4/17) and Mohammad Nabi (2/16) dismantled New Zealand's middle-order as they registered their first-ever win over New Zealand.

First six of the match comes off the bat of Matt Henry.

Mohammad Nabi picks up his second wicket. Mitchell Santner departs for 2. Afghanistan two away from victory.

What an over by Rashid Khan. Not for a wide, it was a maiden. Matt Henry had no clue about what is coming out of Rashid's hand. (NZ: 54 for 7 after 11 overs) 

Mohammad Nabi is in the act now! Well-judged catch in the deep from Rashid Khan! Phillips departs now. Afghanistan are three wickets away from a historic win.

Glenn Phillips continues to fight for the Kiwis. Phillips reads Rashid's googly early. Rocks back and pulls it to the left of deep square leg for a cracking boundary. New Zealand need 107 runs in 63 balls.  (NZ: 53 for 6 after 9.3 overs) 

Two in tow for Rashid Khan. He is on a hat-trick. The Afghanistan skipper trapped Michael Bracewell on the first ball. 

The middle stump is castled! Rashid Khan is weaving his magic in Guyana! Mark Chapman falls and the Kiwis have lost half of their side inside 9 overs!

Poor delivery from Rashid Khan, and Phillips wastes no time and collects his first boundary. New Zealand need 120 runs in 78 balls. (NZ: 40 for 4 after 7 overs)

Rashid Khan strikes with his very first ball. He gets his counterpart Williamson, a sharp catch at the first slip by Gulbadin Naib and Afghanistan are on top.New Zealand need 126 runs in 82 balls. (NZ: 34 for 4 after 6.2 overs)

At the end of the powerplay, New Zealand are 33 for 3. New Zealand need 127 runs in 84 balls. (NZ: 33 for 3 after 6 overs)

Farooqi gets Daruly Mitchell's wicket with an absolute peach. Mitchell couldn't do anything about that one. Third wicket for the left-arm pacer who is having a dream run in this tournament. New Zealand need 130 runs in 90 balls. ( (NZ: 30 for 3 after 5 overs)

Kane Williamson survives a scare. It looked plumbed with the naked eye. It was given not out, Afghanistan decided to take the review and it was an umpire call. A high sigh of relief in the New Zealand camp. New Zealand need 137 runs in 99 balls. (NZ: 24 for 2 after 3.2 overs)

Conway departs, a soft dismissal as he ends up playing too far away from his body. And it is that man again Farooqi who does the damage with the new ball. The Kiwi opener just chips it to short extra cover. New Zealand need 138 runs in 102 balls. (NZ: 22 for 2 after 3 overs)

Streaky, over short third for a boundary. But Conway will take it. First boundary for New Zealand and a much-needed one for sure. 

Afghanistan lost a review but tidy start from Mohammad Nabi, who gave away just four runs in his first over. New Zealand need 149 runs in 108 balls (NZ: 11/1 after 2 overs) 

A dream start for Fazalhaq Farooqi and Afghanistan. Farooqui cleans up Finn Allen with the first ball of the New Zealand innings. Allen departs without scoring. New Zealand need 153 runs in 113 balls (NZ: 7/1 after 1 over) 

An excellent last over by Trent Boult restricted Afghanistan to 159 for 6 in their 20 overs. Afghanistan had a slow start after they managed only 55 runs in the first ten overs. However, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran smashed five sixes in the next three overs to get them going. Zadran scored a valuable 43 runs but it was his opening partner Gurbag, who took the cake with his swashbuckling 56-ball 80. For New Zealand, Trent Boult (2/22), Matt Henrly (2/37) and Lockie Ferguson (1/28) shared the spoils. We will be back soon, meanwhile, you can check our live blog off the Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh match aka Naagin derby here.

An inch-perfect yorker for Trent Boult. A scintillating knock from Gurbaz comes to an end. He scored a fine 56-ball 80.

A run-out at the bowler's end as Rashid Khan sacrifices his wicket to bring Gurbaz on strike. 

Perfect end to the over for Afghanistan! Started off with a maximum and ended with a maximum as well! 16 runs off Mitchell's over.

A 93 m long six by Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Interesting decision to hand the ball to Daryl Mitchell and he receives a warm welcome from Gurbaz. 

Rashid Khan gets into the act with a streaky boundary. Rashid clears his front leg and swings very hard and gets a thick outside edge flying to deep third man fence. (AFG: 140 for 3 after 18 overs)

Ferguson gets a wicket to his name and Nabi departs for a golden duck. Captain Rashid Khan is out in the middle. 

Bang! Make that two in a row for Gurbaz. Afghanistan are on the charge. 

Lovely stuff from Rahmullah Gurbaz! He walks down the pitch to treat Ferguson as a spinner. 

Omarzai departs after hitting two sixes. Henry gets his second wicket. Henry rolls his fingers down the seam. Omarzai to get the timing right on this occasion. The bat turns in his hands on impact. Hits it straight down the throat of Ferguson riding the deep cover boundary. (AFG: 127 for 2 after 17 overs)

Omarzai is on fire. Omarzai takes it on and thumps it over the fence in the leg side. Picks the length early and stays leg side of the ball, smashing it deep into the forward square leg fence for the second six of the over.

First maximum of the night for Omarzai. It was short and outside the off-stump. Omarzai stands tall and pulls it over square leg for a massive six. Lovely bat flow and clubs it with his presence.

An important boundary for Azmatullah Omarzai. It will definitely lift his confidence. Eight runs came from Mitchell Santner's last over. (AFG: 114 for 1 after 16 overs)

Finally a breakthrough for New Zealand. Matt Henry gets the big wicket of Ibrahim Zadran, he departs for a well-made 44. Zadran on the back foot, looked to throw his bat around. Swings hard to get it over the in-field in the off-side. It gets an under edge back onto the stumps! Zadran falls for a 41-ball 44! A much-needed breakthrough for the Kiwis. (AFG: 106 for 1 after 15 overs)

Zadran has been hit on the skull protector and hence a mandatory concussion test. It was bowled short and was angling back into the body, Zadran wants to duck underneath it. But takes eyes off the ball and gets hit on the helmet.

In the air and it falls in the no man's land with three fielders converzing. Gurbaz makes room and looks to slap it over cover but gets it high on the bat. 

100 up for Afghanistan in 13.2 overs. Also the 100-run opening stand between Zadran and Gurbaz.

50 for Rahmanullah Gurbaz! Gets to the landmark in 40 balls. Started slowly but has picked up pace. He also brings up his 1500 runs in T20Is. (AFG: 97 for 0 after 13 overs)

They are dealing in sixes now. In the first ten overs there were no sixes hit but in the last 14 balls, they have hit five. Gurbaz puts on the dancing shoes. Walks down the pitch and frees his arms, flat-batting it downtown. (AFG: 95 for 0 after 12.3 overs)

Six again! This time from Zadran! Boundaries are coming thick and fast and at the regular intervals! Zadran stays leg side of the ball. Picks it up early and whips it with disdain, smoking it over backward square leg for a 79m hit. (AFG: 85 for 0 after 11.4 overs)

They have put the full throttle on the paddle. Rahmanullah Gurbaz finished the over with another maximum, the third of the over. 21 runs came from Michael Bracewell's over.  (AFG: 76 for 0 after 11 overs)

Ibrahim Zadran joins the party now. He clears his front leg and gets underneath it, launching it high and handsome over mid-wicket.

First six of the evening for Afghanistan. Gurbaz breaks the shackles with a mighty hit. Great effort from Phillips in the deep. Takes the catch with a full-length dive and lands out of the boundary cushion.

Williamson almost pulls off a stunner! Brilliant effort from the skipper. High full toss angling into the stumps. Zadran backs away and fails to time the lofted hit. The ball flies off the splice of the bat over mid-off. Williamson backtracks a few yards, keeps his eyes on the ball and times his leap to perfection. He gets his right hand on the ball but fails to hold it as he falls over. The ball slips off his palms, and that allows a single to be taken. Zadran survives again. Time for drinks now. (AFG: 55 for 0 after 10 overs)

A back-to-back fifty-run stand between the Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and  Ibrahim Zadran. It's run a ball at this moment. Three runs came from Bracewell's second over. (AFG: 52 for 0 after 9 overs)

Lockie Ferguson has looked in good rhythm and he has started well. Ferguson gave away only two runs from his first over. (AFG: 49 for 0 after 8 overs)

Here's Michael Bracewell with his off-spin and he gave away only three singles in his first over. (AFG: 47/0 after 7 overs)

Tossed up on the middle stump, Zadran makes room, gets low on the front foot and lifts it over extra cover for a beautiful boundary. Times the inside-out stroke very well. (AFG: 44/0 after 6 overs)

Decision overturned! Ibrahim Zadran was given LBW but he decided to review it and survived as the ball was missing the stumps. 

A frantic start for the Afghanistan openers and New Zealand's are giving them chance after chance. This time Devon Conway failed to collect the ball and Gurbaz survived after a miscommunication. 

Finn Allen drops Ibrahim Zadran. He ran too far ahead from square leg and couldn't even get his hands to it and drops a regulation chance. (AFG: 38 for 0 after 4.5 overs)

Rahmanullah Gurbaz survives. The thin edge saved the Afghanistan batter as the ball raced down to the boundary and Gurbaz collects his third boundary of the evening.  (AFG: 33/0 after 4 overs)

Tidy stuff from Trent Boiult after an expensive over from Matt Henry. Only four runs came from that over. (AFG: 25/0 after 3 overs)

Back-to-back boundaries for Zadran and then Gurbaz ended the over with another boundary. Fifteen runs came from Matt Henry's first over. (AFG: 21/0 after 2 overs)

Fortune favours Ibrahim Zadran. He just tries to heave one and gets a thick inside edge and Devin Conway, he is playing his first match after three months didn't had any chance as it races away to the fine leg fence. 

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is off and running. Punches one away through the cover point to collect his first boundary. Six runs came from Trent Boult's first over. (AFG: 6/0 after 1 over)

Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran stroll out to the centre to open for Afghanistan. Trent Boult with the new ball for New Zealand. One slip in place. Here we go...

Crowd have started to build up here for this clash. Teams are lining up for the respective national anthems. New Zealand have faced Afghanistan only once and they win

Afghanistan have made one change. Mujeeb Ur Rahman misses out due to a hand injury. Noor Ahmad replaces the right-arm spinner.

New Zealand XI: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

Afghanistan XI:  Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooq