Afghanistan Stun New Zealand in Convincing 100-ball Cricket Tournament Opener
Published: June 8, 2024 | Source: ESPNcricinfo
Afghanistan delivered a dominant performance to secure a comprehensive victory over New Zealand in the opening match of the prestigious 100-ball cricket tournament. Opting to bat first, the Afghan side posted a challenging total of 159 runs, with their openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran delivering a century partnership.
“It’s one of the greatest performances from us especially in T20s against a big team, New Zealand,” said captain Rashid Khan. “It is all great team effort. It’s not just about the bowling. It’s the batting, the way Ibrahim [Zadran] and [Rahmanullah] Gurbaz started again…the wicket wasn’t easy to score on. But the way they played, they didn’t throw away their wickets early on when they had a few dot balls from overs seven to nine. I think that was the time when they thought about taking it deep and overall it was a great effort, great win for Afghanistan and it’s a great feeling to be leading this side and winning against New Zealand.”
In response, the New Zealand batters struggled to cope with the Afghan bowling attack and were bundled out for a mere 75 runs, handing Afghanistan a convincing 84-run victory. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson acknowledged that his team was “outplayed in all facets of the game” and described the defeat as “very frustrating” to start the tournament.
“First, congratulations to Afghanistan, they simply outplayed us in all facets of the game,” Williamson said. “To get a total like that on a fiddly surface, they kept wickets in hand and played it beautifully. From our perspective, it wasn’t good enough in terms of starting a tournament. It’s very frustrating, but it’s a quick turnaround for us now, we have to regroup quickly and move on to our next challenge.”
Afghanistan’s clinical performance has propelled them to the top of the Group C table, while New Zealand finds themselves at the bottom with a concerning net run rate of -4.200. The Kiwis now face an uphill task to qualify for the Super Eight stage, with their next match scheduled against co-hosts West Indies in Tarouba.
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