Afghanistan continued their dominant run in the T20 World Cup 2024 by comfortably defeating Papua New Guinea by 7 wickets.
Pitch And Toss Factor
The Brian Lara Cricket Academy pitch is a tough nut to crack for batsmen. Spinners are more effective than pacers on a sluggish pitch like this one.
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field first to relish such conditions and restrict PNG.
PNG Batting Woes
Papua New Guinea had a challenging batting performance against Afghanistan managing to score only 95 runs in 19.5 overs. Tony Ura scored 11 runs off 18 balls while captain Assad Vala managed just 3 runs before being run out. Both Lega Siaka and Sese Bau were dismissed for ducks. Hiri Hiri made 1 run from 3 balls, and Chad Soper contributed 9 runs from 26 balls. The top scorer was Kiplin Doriga, who made 27 runs off 32 balls with Alei Nao adding 13 runs from 19 balls. Overall PNG batsmen never stayed in the wicket for long enough to score a defendable total. They could only manage a subpar 95 for all out in their innings.
Afghanistan Bowlers Dominating Performance
Afghanistan bowlers delivered a strong performance against Papua New Guinea. Fazalhaq Farooqi was the standout by taking 3 wickets for just 16 runs with Naveen-ul-Haq claiming 2 wickets for 4 runs in 2.5 overs while maintaining an economy rate of 1.41. Noor Ahmad also contributed with 1 wicket. Their efforts restricting Papua New Guinea to a total of 95 runs.
Afghanistan Thrashed PNG with Power-Packed Batting
Afghanistan put up a solid batting performance against Papua New Guinea in chasing a target of 96 runs from 20 overs. Although AFG lost two openers early in the innings Gulbadin Naib anchored the innings with an unbeaten 49 off 36 balls with Azmatullah Omarzai also contributing 13 runs from 18 balls. Mohammad Nabi played a steady hand remaining not out with 16 runs from 23 balls. Afghanistan reached 101/3 in 15.1 overs comfortably achieving the target.
PNG Bowlers Fought Hard
Papua New Guinea bowlers put up a commendable effort despite having a low total of 96 runs to defend against Afghanistan. Alei Nao led the attack by taking 1 wicket for 26 runs with Semo Kamea having 1 wicket for just 16 runs. Norman Vanua also took 1 wicket.
What’s Ahead?
This win puts Afghanistan in a strong position to qualify for the Super 8 stage. They will look to maintain their winning momentum in their upcoming matches against the West Indies on June 18th.
Papua New Guinea, on the other hand, will need to regroup and find a way to improve their batting performance if they want to stay alive in the tournament. Their next challenge is against New Zealand on June 17th.
Also Read: AFG vs PNG: Golden Chance For Afghanistan To Secure Place In Super 8