New Zealand Vs Afghanistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Kiwi Juggernaut Rolls On, Crushes Afghans By 149 Runs In Chennai - As It Happened

After winning the toss, Afghanistan decided to bowl first, and apart from taking three early wickets in quick succession, Afghanistan never looked in the game. New Zealand captain Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips made crucial fifties and helped their team put up a big total of 288 runs. In reply, Afghan batters found themselves under pressure from the first over with Trent Boult on song. The Kiwis bowled in the right areas and kept the lengths tight. Rahmanullah Gurbaz threw his wicket away, Matt Henry being the beneficiary. His opening partner, Ibrahim Zadran followed soon. Rahmat Shah and Azmatullah Omarzai spent some time on the pitch but the gap between the desired run rate and the current run rate kept growing. They even struggled to rotate the strike. The innings lasted only 34.4 overs, and the result: A 149-run defeat. New Zealand, having won all their matches so far, four in four, will face hosts India on October 22 in Dharamsala. Afghanistan will play Pakistan in Chennai on October 23. Catch highlights of the NZ vs AFG match here (Scorecard | Match Report | Full Coverage)

That's all from our side!

Player of the match - Glenn Phillips 71(80)

New Zealand won by 149 runs!

8:55 pm: AFG - 139/10; Overs 31-34.4 Highlights
Nabi smashed a four off Santner to put pressure back, but Santner bowled him on the next delivery. Rashid Khan came and smashed a six off Santner, but Ferguson took his wicket in the next over. Mujeeb hits a four and gets taken on the very next ball by Will Young on Ferguson's bowling. Then Santner gets the wickets of Naveen-Ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi to finish the Afghan innings for a mere total of 139 runs. New Zealand won the match by 149 runs. 

8:30 pm: AFG - 121/5; Overs 26-30 Highlights
Afghanistan needed more than 8 runs per over and they have to take chances. Trent Boult took the wicket of Azmatullah Omarzai after coming back into the attack. Ikram Alikhil came to join Rahmat Shah but that partnership could not last long as Rachin sent Rahmat Shah back to the pavilion. Afghanistan got the big blow and now two new batters are at the crease. Mohammad Nabi joins Alikhil in the middle. Ikram showed some intent in the last few overs and was seen keen to score. Nabi kept rotating the strike.

8:10 pm: AFG - 94/3; Overs 21-25 Highlights
Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips bowled beautifully in these overs and kept building the pressure. Afghan batters finally opened their arms and Azmat made two boundaries off Rachin's over to put pressure back on New Zealand. The required run rate is still high. 

7:50 pm: AFG - 68/3; Overs 16-20 Highlights
Rahmat Shah and Azmatullah Shahidi are setting their eyes on the pitch. In the last 5 overs, only one boundary came that too off Santner's bowling. Both batters are struggling to make runs as the required run rate keeps increasing. New Zealand have bowled tight overs and kept Afghan batters at bay. 

7:25 pm: AFG - 48/3; Overs 11-15 Highlights
Hashmatullah Shahidi opened his arms in the 11th over and hit a four on Santner to release some pressure but New Zealand bowlers kept them silent for most of the part in the game. Lockie Ferguson comes into the attack and gets the wicket of Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi 8(29). Azmatullah Omarzai comes to the crease. Afghanistan need a partnership from here.

7:05 pm: AFG - 28/2; Overs 6-10 Highlights
Rahmanullah Gurbaz broke the shackles and smashed Matt Henry for a six at the start of 6th over. Matt Henry backed himself and bowled him to send him off. The battle was finally won by the Matt Henry. Then Trent Boult struck again and sent the other opener Ibrahim Zadran back. Two back-to-back scalps put Afghans under pressure and just 1 run scored in the last four overs. The last 3 overs were maiden. 

6:40 pm: AFG - 19/0; Overs 1-5 Highlights
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran opened the Afghan innings and Trent Boult bowled the first over. New Zealand lost one review in the very first over. Ibrahim Zadran has looked good with two boundaries so far while Rahmanullah Gurbaz still finding runs. Without any loss, Afghanistan have started the chase very well.

Innings Break!!
Mujeeb Ur Rahman with the first strike, a sensational over from pacer Azmatullah Omarzai, then a wicket from mercurial Rashid Khan -- that's how Afghanistan dominated New Zealand in the early parts of the game. Then, the Kiwis wrested the initiative back with a brilliant fifth-wicket stand between Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips, 144 off 153 runs. It will be some chase if the Afghans are to hunt down New Zealand's 288/6 on a tricky Chepauk top in Chennai. The Afghans, after the high of conquering holders England, arrived motivated. They won a good toss and exploited the conditions to put last edition's losing finalists under pressure. Yet still, they will rue the many missed chances -- one failed stumping, and dropped catches. A target of 289 runs is still massive. For the Kiwis, the innings was a testament to their balance. Follow live scores and updates of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, match 16 between New Zealand and Afghanistan.

Target set for Afghanistan - 289 runs in 300 balls

5:50 pm: NZ - 288/6; Overs 46-50 Highlights
Glenn Phillips and Tom Latham changed gears in the last overs and managed to make runs owing to poor fielding of Afghanistan. Tom Latham smashed two sixes and one four off Azmatullah Omarzai's over and managed 18 runs from that over. Then Naveen bowled a very good over and bagged the wickets of set Glenn Phillips and Tom Latham in the same over. New batters Mark Chapman and Mitch Santner added valuable runs in the last and put up a total of 288 runs on the board. New Zealand need to stop the Afghan batters before that to win this match.

5:25 pm: NZ - 226/4; Overs 41-45 Highlights
New Zealand batters have shifted gears and are scoring runs with a good strike rate. Glenn Phillips hit a four on Rashid Khan's bowling and then smacked a six on Mujeeb's. Mujeeb dropped a catch of Latham and the Shahidi dropped his again on Rashid's bowling. Rashid Khan was furious. Afghanistan needs to utilise these chances. Then Glenn Phillips smashed two back-to-back sixes on Farooqi to finish the 45th over. 

5:02 pm: NZ - 185/4; Overs 36-40 Highlights
New Zealand batters have kept it slow and steady so far and going with a slow pace towards the total after 40 overs. Glenn Phillips and Tom Latham have made crucial runs and soaked all the pressure that was once there after three wickets fell in quick succession. Afghanistan bowlers also succeeded in keeping the New Zealand batters silent. Only Glenn Phillips hit a four on Rashid Khan in the last 5 overs, that's the only boundary. Otherwise, they kept taking singles and doubles. Now New Zealand is nearing the death overs and would like to score as many runs as possible.

4:40 pm: NZ - 163/4; Overs 31-35 Highlights
Afghanistan bowlers have been unable to take any wicket of New Zealand batters for more than 10 overs now and New Zealand batters have now set their eyes on the pitch. Glenn Phillips took the chance and smacked a six off Nabi after he bowled five dot deliveries. Before that, Latham also found ways for boundaries and kept rotating the strikes in between.

4:30 pm: 3 Key Battles
As elaborated in our copy for 3 key battles, we mentioned Conway vs Rashid Khan and Daryl Mitchell vs Mujeeb Ur Rahman battle to be interesting. But both batters didn't last long and got uprooted by the different bowlers. Devon Conway didn't wait for Rashid Khan to come to bowl and gave his wicket to Mujeeb in the initial overs. Daryl Mitchell also went straight after coming to the crease on Rashid's bowling. Let's see what comes out of the battle between Matt Henry and Rahmaullah Gurbaz in the next innings.

4:20 pm: NZ - 138/4; Overs 26-30 Highlights
Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai bowled good overs and kept New Zealand at bay. Glenn Phillips opened his arms and smashed a four in first Azmat's over and then in Nabi's over. Otherwise, both players rotated the strike and dealt in singles and doubles.

4:00 pm: NZ - 120/4; Overs 21-25 Highlights
Azmatullah Omarzai got the breakthrough after he bowled Rachin Ravindra on the very second ball of his first over. He struck again and sent Will Young back to the pavilion. He dismissed both set players in his first over and put pressure back on New Zealand. Rashid Khan struck again in the next over and got Daryl Mitchell out on just the score of 1 run. Azmat and Rashid bowled the next three overs and kept the new batters silent. 

3:40 pm: NZ - 109/1; Overs 16-20 Highlights
Rashid Khan came into the attack after the drinks and bowled a very good over after Will Young welcomed him with a four. Ravindra hits four in Naveen's next over. Rashid gets another welcome four from Young as he completes his fifty in 57 balls. It's either fifty or nothing for Conway in his last six innings. Ravindra hits another four off Naveen's over. Rashid bowled a tight 20th over. New Zealand have not lost any wicket in the last 10 overs and made 66 runs. Rachin Ravindra also got a chance after a missed stumping.

3:18 pm: NZ - 80/1; Overs 11-15 Highlights
Mohammad Nabi and Naveen-Ul-haq bowled these overs and New Zealand batters targeted Nabi. Nabi's first over was good and he bowled on fine areas. But Will Young first hit a six in his next over then Rachin also grooved in and macked another. 15 runs from that over. Naveen bowled another good over but Will Young went after Nabi again and smashed another six. The 50-run partnership completed between the players and New Zealand is looking good now. Afghan players are still in search of wickets.

2:45 pm: NZ - 43/1; Overs 6-10 Highlights
Mujeeb Ur Rahman struck early for Afghanistan and sent Devon Conway back to the pavilion. Rachin Ravindra came at number 3 after Kane Williamson was not playing this match due to a thumb injury. Farooqi bowled tight overs from one end and put pressure on the New Zealand side, but Will Young smashed two boundaries to release that pressure. Another chance was dropped at short mid-wicket. Rachin is yet to score after 9 balls. Naveen-Ul-haq bowled a tight 10th over.

2:22 pm: NZ - 23/0; Overs 1-5 Highlights
New Zealand openers are off to a stable start against Afghanistan. Afghanistan have gone with the same plan that they executed against England in their last game. Mujeeb from one end and Farooqi from another. Farooqi looked good in his first over. He also created a chance but Young's catch was dropped by Rahmat Shah in the first slip. He started with a maiden over. Devon Conway then started the boundary account with Mujeeb's first delivery and smashed again in Farooqi's over. Will Young also could not resist himself for long and smacked a six off Mujeeb in his 2nd over. 

2:02 pm: New Zealand's batting starts
New Zealand's openers Devon Conway and Will Young are at the crease and Conway faced the first ball of Mujeeb Ur Rahman's over. It's a dot ball. Spinner from the start for Afghanistan. Chennai's pitch is considered spin-friendly. 2 runs off the over. New Zealand is off the mark.

1:35 pm: Line-Ups
Afghanistan: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 5 Azmatullah Omarzai, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Ikram Alikhil (wk), 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi
New Zealand: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Tom Latham (capt, wk), 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Mark Chapman, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Mark Henry, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult

1:32 pm: Toss Update
Afghanistan have won the toss and decided to field first.

1:20 pm: What Happened Last Night
We are just minutes away from the toss. Let's take a look at the statistical highlights of what happened last night - the incredible victory of the Netherlands over South Africa. Read the report HERE.

12:30 pm: Head-to-head Record
New Zealand and Afghanistan have locked horns in just two matches in the ODI format, with the Kiwis emerging victorious on both occasions. Like today's match, both the earlier games were part of the ODI World Cup, and the most recent one in 2019 saw NZ posting a comfortable seven-wicket win over the Afghans before proceeding to the summit clash against eventual champions England. 

12:15 pm: Weather And Pitch Conditions
The maximum temperature in Chennai will be around 32 degrees Celsius, so expect a hot day at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. There was a slight drizzle on the eve of the game, but the forecast is clearer on match day. As for the pitch, Chepauk always offers something for the spinners, and the Afghan tweakers would be expecting more of the same today.

Preview:
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 continues to throw delightful surprise after surprise. In a repeat of their 2022 T20 World Cup feat against the same team, the Netherlands stunned South Africa with a courageous performance that left the Proteas gasping and 38 runs short in Dharamsala on Tuesday. The Dutch perhaps took inspiration from Afghanistan, who had upstaged defending champions England two nights prior in Delhi. The upbeat Afghans take the field again today against the 2019 ODI World Cup runners-up New Zealand. The Kiwis have been clinical in their campaign, setting aside every challenge with disdain. Can the buoyant Afghans throw NZ off their plans and stage another gigantic upset? We will find out tonight.

Teams
New Zealand: Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (c & wk), Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee and Will Young.
Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman and Naveen ul Haq.