NZ VS AFG | Twitter reacts as Kiwis display a dominant performance against Afghans with a 149-run win

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bowl first and their bowlers repaid the faith, starting with Mujeeb, who dismissed the 'home boy' Devon Conway early. Will Young soldiered on to score a fifty as Rachin Ravindra seemed a bit unsteady during his innings. New Zealand found scoring to be a challenge, with the scoreboard at 109/2. Afghanistan wrestled back control through Omarzai, who sent both well-set batsmen back to the pavilion, and Rashid who got rid of the dangerous Daryl Mitchell, reducing New Zealand to 110/4. The Afghan spinners displayed discipline in their bowling, but the fielders let them down, allowing Glenn Phillips (71) and Tom Latham (68) to build a partnership of 144. Rashid Khan, despite having the potential for four wickets, ended with just one. New Zealand used this platform to launch an attack in the final overs. Naveen-ul-Haq claimed two wickets for 40 runs, dismissing both well-set batsmen in a single over late in the innings. However, Mark Chapman played aggressively, and New Zealand finished their innings with a total of 288/6.

In the pursuit of 289, Afghanistan experienced early setbacks during the powerplay, with the score at 28/2 after 10 overs. Mitchell  Santner took a stunning catch to dismiss Hashmatullah Shahidi which resulted in the run rate slowing down as Afghanistan adopted a cautious approach. Focusing on building a partnership, Rahmat Shah and Azmatullah Omarzai managed to bring up a 50-run partnership. However, Boult managed to dismiss him on the very next ball. Unfortunately, Rahmat also contributed to the wickets column by chipping a catch back to Ravindra. Things ended quickly as the Kiwis dismissed the whole Afghanistan lineup for a measly total of 139 with Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson claiming three wickets each. 

Huge win

Big W

Brilliant

Congrats

Well played

On the roll

On top

They just do it

Bizzare

Congrats