Two strikes in the second over of the New Zealand innings and it looked as if the Kiwis were in trouble against Afghanistan in their ICC T20 World Cup game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
Gulbadin Naib’s half-century and Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s double-strike had sent shivers down the Kiwis spine. But Tim Seifert’s own half-century and a punchy knock from Glenn Phillips offset the early damage caused by Afghanistan and set New Zealand on the path to victory in the group of death, which also includes fellow title-contenders South Africa.
We had a good day. Afghanistan were a threat and hence it was a massive game. It was a good wicket too. Afghanistan challenged us a lot as we thought they would. It was sticky to start with. We’re playing in seven grounds, got to get a read on grounds and conditions quickly. Powerplays are important, Mujeeb was a challenge. It was a flat wicket in the end. Most teams stack their batting, having a batter at 8 is nice. We could be sharper. 3 o’clock start might be different. We just need partnerships as 180 was par,” said New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner.
After Afghanistan opted to bat in a day game, they posted 182 for 6, on the back of Naib’s 35-ball 63, which looked like an above-par total on a challenging Chepauk surface, which offered substantial bounce, especially in the early exchanges, and some grip to the slower bowlers.
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That total looked a whole lot bigger once Mujeeb blasted out Finn Allen and Rachin Ravindra in the second over of the chase off back-to-back balls.
Phillips, however, kept out the hat-trick ball and combined aggressively with Seifert to loosen Afghanistan’s grip on the game. They snatched it from Afghanistan’s hands when they cracked Rashid Khan for 14 in his first over. Rashid, and Afghanistan, never really recovered from that as New Zealand wrapped up the chase with five wickets and 13 balls to spare. 1.1 NRR for the Kiwis in the group of death is a big boost for the title contenders.
“It is always nice to start with runs, more important to win. Tough conditions. Finn and I wanted to put pressure on the quicks. Sometimes spin came easier than pace. Experience of playing around the world, adapting to conditions and backing yourself helped us in the chase,” said Player of the Match Tim Siefert, who added 74 for the third wicket with Phillips.
Siefert made 65 off 42 balls with seven fours and three sixes, while Phillips scored 42 off 25 balls with seven fours and a six.
“Learnings for us from the bowling. We put on a good total. Areas we bowled gave more chances for them to score. Mujeeb started well, guys started well with bat too. But bowling after the powerplay is a problem. We have meetings, plans A and B sorted, it comes down to execution. We haven’t landed the ball in the right areas as the conditions were consistent. Good length, at the stumps was tough to hit. We didn’t do that. Hope we don’t repeat that. Every batter tried their best to play their own game. I feel the way Gurbaz, Naib showed the right intent. Azmat, Nabi contributed too,” said a dejected Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 182 for six in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 27, Gulbadin Naib 63, Sediquallah Atal 29, Darwish Rasooli 20; Lockie Ferguson 2/40) lost to New Zealand 183 for five in 17.5 overs (Tim Seifert 65, Glenn Phillips 42, Mark Chapman 28, Daryl Mitchell 25 not out, Mitchell Santner 17 not out; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/31).
