"Second best Asian team.." Fans react as Afghanistan thump New Zealand by 85 runs in ICC T20 World Cup 2024

Gurbaz, Rashid and Farooqi were the stars for Afghanistan in their historic win over New Zealand.

The Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan recorded a memorable victory over Kane Williamson’s New Zealand in match number 14 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 at the Providence Stadium, Guyana. Not only did they manage a win over the Black Caps, they hammered them by a huge margin of 85 runs.

Coupling this with their previous win over Uganda by 125 runs, Afghanistan now have a net run rate of +5.225, which has significantly boosted their chances of reaching the Super 8 stage. Their remaining two matches are against West Indies and Papua New Guinea.

Coming to the AFG vs NZ encounter that has left the fans in awe, the Asian side had three heroes: opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz batted for more than 19 overs to score 80 runs in 56 balls; pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi took four wickets, three of which were Finn Allen, Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell; skipper Rashid Khan also took four scalps, including Kane Williamson and Mark Chapman.

Williamson won the toss and elected to bowl first in Guyana. Afghanistan posted 159 on the board with openers Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran sharing a 103-run partnership. The Kiwis were sloppy in the field as they missed as many as five chances!

In reply, the Black Caps simply couldn’t get going. The Asian side were on top right from the first ball when Farooqi castled Finn Allen. Only two Kiwi batters could get into double figures, with Glenn Phillips top-scoring with 18. New Zealand were bundled out for 75.

Fans on Twitter erupted in celebration and amazement at Afghanistan’s win over New Zealand:

More tweets on AFG vs NZ:

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