Another great game changer match has been seen in the World Cup 2024. Afghanistan has surprised everyone by defeating New Zealand by 84 runs. Afghanistan has never defeated New Zealand in any kind of match before this. Earlier, New Zealand had won all four matches of ODI and T20. On Saturday, after winning the toss at the Providence Stadium in Georgetown, Guyana, New Zealand decided to field first. Batting first, Afghanistan’s team scored 159 runs for six wickets in 20 overs. In response, New Zealand’s team was all out for 75 runs in 15.2 overs.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 80 runs during Afghanistan’s innings. This was Gurbaz’s ninth half-century in Twenty20 Internationals. Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran shared a 103-run partnership in the opening innings. Captain Rashid Khan and Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled brilliantly and took four wickets each. Therefore, Afghanistan has won the match twice in a row in the World Cup. Earlier, the team defeated Uganda by 125 runs. As a team in Group C, they are at the forefront.
Kiwis’ Winning Streak is Broken
New Zealand did not have a good start in the game against Afghanistan. Phil Allen returned to the pavilion without opening his account. After this, Devon Conway and Kane Williamson also could not play important innings. Afghan spinner Fazalhaq Farooqui made the New Zealand batsmen helpless and prevented them from playing shots freely. Glenn Phillips scored the most runs (18) for New Zealand. Matt Henry scored twelve runs. Conway scored eight runs, Williamson scored nine and Daryl Mitchell scored five runs. The entire New Zealand team was all out after scoring just 75 runs in 15.2 overs. New Zealand had to face defeat by 84 runs which is its biggest defeat in T20 World Cup. Earlier in the T20 World Cup 2014, New Zealand had lost the match against Sri Lanka by 59 runs. But this time the margin of defeat was even bigger.
Afghan Bowlers Thrash Kiwis
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan and Fazalhaq Farooqi took four wickets each of the New Zealand team. These players bowled brilliantly. The Afghan team won due to the excellent performance of these players. Rashid gave away 17 runs in 4 overs while Fazalhaq gave away 17 runs in 3.2 overs. Both these bowlers bowled very economically. Apart from this, Mohammad Nabi took two wickets. Noor Ahmed bowled only one over in the entire match.
Afghan Batsmen Worked Their Magic
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran performed brilliantly for Afghanistan. These two batsmen opened together and added a brilliant 103 runs for the first wicket. With their batting, they made Afghanistan’s victory easy. Ibrahim scored 44 runs and Rahmanullah scored 80 runs in 56 balls. Azmatullah Umarzai scored 22 runs in 13 balls. These batsmen helped the Afghan team to score a good score. Trent Boult and Matt Henry took 2-2 wickets for New Zealand.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz And Ibrahim Zadran Made a Record
Earlier, while opening the match against Uganda, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran had made a brilliant partnership of 154 runs. Now both of them have made a new record by making a century partnership against New Zealand as well. The Gurbaz-Zadran pair has become the second pair to make a century partnership in two consecutive matches in the T20 World Cup. Before them, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had made a century partnership in two consecutive matches in the T20 World Cup 2014. Now Gurbaz and Zadran have equaled these players and repeated the ten-year-old feat.
This Player is Ahead of Rohit Sharma
Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz has reached the first position by scoring the most runs in T20 World Cup 2024. He has scored 156 runs in 2 matches of T20 World Cup 2024 so far. America’s Aaron Jones is at second place in terms of scoring the most runs in T20 World Cup 2024. He has scored 130 runs in just two matches. Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran is at third place. He has scored 114 runs in just two matches. In the current T20 World Cup, the Indian team has faced Ireland only once so far. Rohit Sharma has scored the most 52 runs for India in T20 World Cup 2024. However, he is 104 runs behind Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
