New Zealand Vs Afghanistan – T20 World Cup 2021 Match #40 Quick Review!
New Zealand Vs Afghanistan Quick Review – NZ’s all round show ends Afghan & Indian dreams.
In the process, New Zealand reach the semi-finals of the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Match Details, Scorecard, & Video Highlights
Scorecard: New Zealand Vs Afghanistan Video Highlights
Toss: Afghanistan won the toss and chose to field first.
Venue: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena & Langton Rusere
What Actually Happened
- Winner: New Zealand won by 8 wickets
- Scores: Afghanistan 124/8 New Zealand 125/2
- Player of the Match: Trent Boult 3/17
- Best Figures
- Trent Boult (4-0-17-3)
- Rashid Khan (4-0-27-1)
- Most Runs
- Najibullah Zadran 73 (48)
- Kane Williamson 40* (42)
Moments of The Day: Fielders, Bowlers, Williamson-Conway Brush Aside Afghanistan
- Fast bowlers all chipped in to break Afghanistan’s hopes. Impressive Milne nicked out Shahzad, Boult got Zazai, and Southee dismissed Gurbaz. Afghanistan 19/3 in 5.1 overs and never recovered.
- Najibullah Zadran was the lone star for Afghanistan. Scoring his best T20I score of 73 out of Afghanistan’s 125 shows you the impact he had. Such a clean striker of he ball. He now averages 33.29 at a SR of 141.28 in T20Is.
- Afghanistan missed a trick by waiting to bring Rashid Khan till after the Powerplay, but he delivered. Runs dried up with NZ at 63/2 in 11 overs, still needing 62 in the remaining 9. With Williamson steady, Devon Conway finally played an innings of note. Reverse sweeps and sweeps eased the pressure as NZ won with 11 balls to spare.
Honorable Mention: Daryl Mitchell’s flying save
Broken Cricket Dream of the Day: Afghanistan, India Crash Out
- Broken Dream #1 is the obvious one – Afghanistan was expected to defeat one of the three big guns – Pakistan, India, or NZ.
- Till Afghanistan reached Asif Ali, everything was well & good. 130 run victory against Scotland, brushing aside Namibia, NRR touching the roof. Post Asif Ali’s assault, Afghanistan’s body language dropped, Asghar Afghan retired midway, & Afghanistan did not give a fight to India or NZ. Semi-finals in friendly conditions was within reach, and they let it slip.
- Broken Dream #2 – Indian fans tuned into this match for an Afghanistan upset. Not only did Afghanistan lose, they took out India with them. A dead rubber scheduled for tomorrow.
Also Read: 200th Article Special: 5 Things I have Learned From My Journey of Cricket Writing
T20 World Cup Points Table, Most Runs, Wickets, Catches, Dismissals
No need to go elsewhere for the Points Table, Highest Run Scorer, Highest Wicket Taker, Most Catches, and Most Dismissals. We will keep updating it in every article!
- Babar Azam – 264 runs (Pakistan, 5 Matches)
- Wanindu Hasaranga – 16 wickets (Sri Lanka, 8 Matches)
- Calum MacLeod – 8 catches (Scotland, 7 Matches)
- Matthew Wade – 8 dismissals (Australia, 5 Matches)
Group 1 Table
| Teams | Played | Won | Lost | Tied No-Result | Points | Net Run Rate |
| 1. England | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | + 2.464 |
| 2. Australia | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | + 1.216 |
| 3. South Africa | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | + 0.739 |
| 4. Sri Lanka | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | – 0.269 |
| 5. West Indies | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | – 1.641 |
| 6. Bangladesh | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – 2.383 |
Group 2 Table
| Teams | Played | Won | Lost | Tied No-Result | Points | Net Run Rate |
| 1. Pakistan | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | + 1.583 |
| 2. New Zealand | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | + 1.162 |
| 3. India | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | + 1.619 |
| 4. Afghanistan | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | + 1.053 |
| 5. Namibia | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | – 1.851 |
| 6. Scotland | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – 3.543 |
Also, if you have not yet read our T20 World Cup Previews, here is a list of all of them! Check them out and share ahead:
- A Review – Group A 2021 T20 World Cup Squads Dissected: Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Sri Lanka
- B Review – Group B 2021 T20 World Cup Squads Dissected: Bangladesh, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Scotland
- 1 Review – Group 1 2021 T20 World Cup Squads Dissected: Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies
- 2 Review – Group 2 2021 T20 World Cup Squads Dissected: India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, New Zealand
© Copyright @Nitesh Mathur and Broken Cricket Dreams, 2021. Originally published on 11/07/2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Broken Cricket Dreams with appropriate and specific direction to the original content (i.e. linked to the exact post/article).
Image Courtesy: Graphic (original work), Kyle Coetzer – Photo by Francois Nel-ICC/ICC via Getty Images, Mahmudullah – Photo by Mike Hewitt-ICC/ICC via Getty Images
