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New Zealand were clinical in their approach to end India’s chances of qualifying for T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final with an eight-wicket win with 11 balls to spare. A spirited Afghanistan backed by more than 100 crores of Indian cricket fans just did not put enough runs on the board to make New Zealand nervous. The Kiwis put an end to all permutations and combinations with an eight-wicket win over Mohammad Nabi-led side at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. New Zealand’s fourth win on the trot makes India’s clash against Namibia on November 7 a dead rubber.
Fightback in middle overs of run chase
New Zealand got off to a good start despite Daryl Mitchell’s wicket in the fourth over. The Kiwis scored 45 runs from six overs to pull the required run rate below six runs per over. In the next five overs, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan and Hamid Hassan brought the side back in the game as the scorecard read 63/2 in 11 overs. But Kane Williamson and Devon Conway ensured that there is no anti-climax to the game by chasing down the target of 125 in the penultimate over.
Lucky Conway
Afghanistan had another chance of breakthrough in the middle overs to put New Zealand under pressure after few economical overs but no one appealed. In the 11th over, Conway poked at a delivery by Hamid. It looked like the left-handed batter missed the delivery but ultraedge showed a spike when the ball passed the bat. There was no appeal from any of the Afghanistan players and Conway got a reprieve when he was still new to the crease. Conway went on to score an unbeaten 36 off 32 deliveries, adding 34 runs to his score after the missed chance.
Afghan top order collapse
There were a lot of expectations from Afghanistan opener Hazratullah Zazai going into the game but his problems against left-arm bowlers continued. Zazai did not score a single boundary and got out for just two runs to Trent Boult. The other opener, Mohammad Shahzad showed promise with a brilliant loft over the bowler’s head for a boundary but it was all he could do. The wicketkeeper-batter did not score a single run after that and wasted crucial deliveries in powerplay overs as well before losing his wicket to Adam Milne. He could score only four runs from 11 deliveries. Tim Southee joined the party as well getting the wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a single-digit score in the last over of powerplay. Afghanistan could score only 23 runs in the first six overs.
Najibullah changes the game
Najibullah Zadran gave Afghan and Indian fans some hope with a record-breaking innings. After playing himself in, Najibullah led the counter-attack and registered the highest individual score for an Afghanistan batter in T20 World Cups. The left-handed batter targetted Mitchell Santner in the middle overs and got to his half-century in 33 deliveries. He carried on and scored 73 runs off 48 deliveries including six fours and three sixes. However, Najibullah’s wicket in the penultimate over prevented Afghanistan from finishing with a flourish.
Death overs malfunction
After gaining momentum in middle overs, Afghanistan were set to finish with a bang. But wickets of Nabi, Zadran brought two new batters in the middle. Despite the two wickets Afghanistan had their cameo specialist Rashid on the crease with Mujeeb on the other end. Rashid failed to make a mark and missed a few full tosses from James Neesham in the last over. He got out off the final delivery scoring just three runs from seven deliveries. In the last deliveries, they could only add five runs on the board and posted 124/8 in 20 overs.
