-in another T20 World Cup shocker
– Ramanullah Gurbaz in man-of-the-match performance
Afghanistan’s meteoric rise in T20 International Cricket continued last night at the Providence National Stadium when they railroaded New Zealand in a historic win, beating the Kiwis for the first time ever by 84 runs as the ICC T20 World Cup continued.
Opening Batsman Ramanullah Gurbaz, no stranger to the Providence pitch, turned in a man-of- the-match performance with the bat to star in the Group C fixture.
After being sent in to bat by New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson on a pitch with variable bounce, the Afghan openers Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran (44 from 41 balls) laid the foundation with an opening partnership of 103 for what would turn out to be a famous victory at Providence.
Gurbaz and Zadran would ride out a tough opening 10 overs from New Zealand’s bowlers and were on an underwhelming 55 without loss when drinks were taken. However, after the break Gurbaz and Zadran would cut loose, taking 21 runs off of Michael Bracewell in the 11th over, with Gurbaz smashing two sixes.
The last 10 overs saw Afghanistan 104 runs getting to 159/6 from their allotted overs. After Zadran fell bowled by Matt Henry with the side at 103, Gurbaz carried on with the momentum and would end up racking up 80 (56 balls) which included five sixes and five fours, pushing his side to what was a par total at Providence. Aside from Gurbaz and Zadran, only Azmatullah Omarzai (22) scored anything of worth as Trent Boult ended the pick of the New Zealand bowlers with 2/22 from his four overs.
With 160 to defend, the Afghanistan side got off to a dream start as Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled the dangerous Finn Allen with the very first ball of the innings. That set the tone for the rest of New Zealand’s chase as the Afghan bowlers applied a chokehold on the Kiwis. Farooqi would go on to take two more wickets in the powerplay, removing Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell, ripping out the core of New Zealand’s batting order.
After Farooqi’s opening blitz with the ball he was backed up by his teammates as the Afghan skipper Rashid Khan snared his opposite number, Williamson (9) in the sixth over before removing Mark Chapman (4) and Bracewell (0) with consecutive deliveries in the 9th over to break the back of the Kiwis run chase, leaving them reeling at 43/6.
Mohamed Nabi would chime in on the action taking the scalps of the Glen Phillips (18) and Mitchell Santner (4).
Khan would then account for Lockie Ferguson via the caught and bowled route to end with 4/17 (4 overs) while Farooqi returned in the 16th over to fitting put New Zealand out of their misery by having Matt Henry out caught by Karim Janat. Farooqi also returned 4/18 (3.2 overs) as New Zealand were bowled out for 75 in 15.2 overs, conceding a win to Afghanistan for the first time in T20I history. The win means that Afghanistan have started brilliantly with two wins in as many games giving themselves every chance of qualifying to the Super 8 stage. West Indies will now take on Uganda in the same group tonight at the same venue in their second match of the World Cup.
Last night’s defeat of New Zealand followed Pakistan’s narrow loss to the United States in Dallas, Texas on Thursday.
