ODI World Cup 2023: Afghanistan lost by 149 runs against New Zealand

New Zealand defeated Afghanistan by 149 runs, continuing their winning run. Afghanistan was unable to maintain the momentum they gained from their victory over the reigning champions in their previous match, as New Zealand has now won four straight games. Here is a recap of the first innings.

New Zealand keeps it tight in powerplay

Trent Boult’s spell for the Kiwis did not begin how he would have preferred. After bowling a few wide deliveries, he persuaded captain Tom Latham to take, which resulted in the runners-up from the previous year losing their review on the fifth delivery of the innings. On the other end, Matt Henry bowled disciplinedly and did not allow the Afghan batters to get a lot of runs off of him. 

Things were looking great for the Afghans after a pair of fours from Ibrahim Zadran and a six from Rahmanullah Gurbaz, but Henry struck in his third over. Gurbaz played an inside edge against Henry which struck the stumps. Boult from the opposite end dismissed Zadran just after two balls. This sent both openers back to the pavilion. To end the powerplay, Henry bowled two maidens and Boult bowled one. Afghanistan lost two wickets and only managed to score 28 runs in the first ten overs.

Regular wickets seal the game for New Zealand

Following the powerplay, Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson entered the assault. Santner’s screamer of a catch delivered the first blood to Ferguson. Ferguson delivered a fast-moving short ball to Hashmatullah Shahidi, the Afghan captain, a top edge from him on his pull shot. To accomplish the catch, Santner, running back, dove and then snatched the ball in midair. As the asking rate rose and the scoring rate dropped, Azmatullah Omarzai entered the crease to join Rahmat Shah. Afghanistan managed to score just 39 runs in the next nine overs (15–23) as Santner, Ferguson, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra maintained tight confines. 

Returning to the attack, Boult immediately had an impact, eliminating Amatullah. After taking a few jabs at boundaries, Ravindra also recovered by dismissing Rahmat Shah. After replacing Boult, Santner returned to the attack and removed Mohammad Nabi in his opening over. Rashid Khan was dismissed by Ferguson, potentially improving New Zealand’s net run rate. After being hit for a four, he dismissed Mujeeb ur Rahman in the same over. Santner took the next over’s final two wickets.