New Zealand see off Afghanistan to maintain perfect start at Cricket World Cup

By SABC Sport
18th October 2023

New Zealand made it four straight wins to move top of the World Cup table by thrashing Afghanistan by 149 runs in Chennai.

The Black Caps, beaten finalists in 2019, recovered from 110 for four to post 288 for six after being put into bat at the Chepauk Stadium before bundling Afghanistan out for 139 in reply.

Afghanistan, who registered their first tournament win by defeating defending world champions England by 69 runs on Sunday, followed up a shoddy fielding display by losing their last five wickets for 14 runs.

New Zealand had cruised to convincing wins over England, the Netherlands and Bangladesh in their opening three matches and recovered their momentum after an early batting wobble.

The Black Caps slipped from 109 for one to 110 for four when Rachin Ravindra fell for 32, Will Young for 54 and Daryl Mitchell for one, but skipper Tom Latham and man-of-the-match Glenn Phillips led their fightback.

Latham struck two sixes and three fours in his 68 off 74 deliveries, while Phillips made an 80-ball 71, which included four sixes.

The pair put on 144 for the fifth wicket in just under 26 overs before Phillips was caught by Rashid Khan off Naveen-ul-Haq.

That left New Zealand on 254 for five and Mark Chapman's quickfire 25 off 12 deliveries lifted them to 288.

Afghanistan lost openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran in quick succession with 27 on the board and, after reaching 97 for three in the 26th over, they lost their last seven wickets for 42 runs.