Afghanistan were asked to bat first and they posted a magnificent score of ___ for the loss of ____ wickets. Gulbadin Naib played a montrous knock of 63 runs in 35 balls and struck 3 fours and 4 sixes. The mighty Kiwis have a tough task on their hands as the Chepauk surface is proving a bit too be two paced.
Steady power play for Afghanistan
Rahmanullah Gurbaz & Irbrahim Zadran were quite cautious at the start. Matt Henry in particular was bowling quite wicket to wicket which perturbed the batters. Ibrahim Zadran was playing the role of anchor and made sure that they don’t play a string of dot balls. The surface had a bit of moisture at the start but Kiwis failed to make early inroads
Lockie Ferguson immediately in his 1st over dismissed both the openers Gurbaz & Zadran. Lockie Ferguson was spot on with his immaculate line & lengths. Afghanistan managed to score 44 runs in first 6 overs and lost 2 wickets. It was quite surprising that Mitchell Santner didn’t bowl an over.
Gulbadin Naib ruins New Zealand
Gulbadin Naib then asserted the dominance over Afghanistan and whacked them around the park. It was quite astonishing that Naib got unexpected promotion at No.3 position as he is generally a finisher who bats lower down the order.
In the 13th over, Gulbadin Naib took the attack down on James Neesham and scored 18 runs in that over. Afghanistan batters’ made sure that they didn’t take that many risks against Mitchell Santer as they played him smartly. Santner had an economical spell where he conceded only 23 runs in his 4 overs but was wicketless. Afghanistan’s score was 135-3 in 15 overs.
Afghanistan end on a high note
Afghanistan then unleashed the attack on Kiwi bowlers. Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson couldn’t stop the flow of runs which hurt the team. Lockie Ferguson took 2 wickets but conceded 40 runs in his 4 over spell. James Neesham also was taken to cleaners as he conceded 33 runs in his 3 over spell.
Azmatullah Omarzai & Mohammad Nabi provided finishing touches for the team. Afghanistan scored 47 runs in last 5 overs and most importantly got the score abover 180. New Zealand’s bowlers looked clueless against the masterful knock of Gulbain Naib who just stole the match.
Who’s winning, New Zealand or Afghanistan?
183 runs is quite a steep target for Kiwis. Afghanistan haven’t lost a single T20I match while defending 176 or more runs. New Zealand will require a herculean of an effort to win the match. Afghanistan will bank on spinners with Mujeeb & Rashid present as Black Caps will heavily rely on Finn Allen to give a barnstorming start for the team. Afghanistan looks most likely to win the contest unless something dramatic happens.