New Zealand maintained their perfect start in the ICC Cricket World Cup after they defeated Afghanistan by 149 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday evening.
The Kiwis went top of the table with eight points courtesy of winning their first four matches in the global tournament.
The Afghan bowlers, led by Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, performed well by taking early wickets and even saw the back of Devon Conway for just 20.
Will Young was handed a couple of lifelines and the batsman made them pay as he went on to score a half-century.
While the Afghan spinners were disciplined, fielding errors allowed Glenn Phillips and Tom Latham to build a partnership. The two batsmen ended with 71 and 68 runs respectively en route to their 144-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Rashid Khan had the potential for more wickets but ended with only one as his teammates continued to drop catches. Although Naveen-ul-Haq later claimed the wickets of both established batters in a single over, the damage was already done.
In the final few overs, Mark Chapman played an incredible cameo of 25 runs in just 12 balls to help New Zealand post 288 on the board.
In response, Afghanistan never looked in control and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The two openers, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, went back to the pavilion in a space of two balls while skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi soon followed suit.
Rahmat Shah and Azmatullah Omarzai showed some resistance scoring 36 and 27 runs respectively but their efforts were too little to have any impact.
Their lower order fell like a pack of cards and none of the last five batsmen could reach double digits as they were bundled for just 139.
MORE: World Cup Player of the Tournament: Full list of previous winners
New Zealand vs Afghanistan Final Score
New Zealand - 288/6 (50.0 overs)
Afghanistan - 139/10 (34.4 overs)
MORE: India World Cup 2023 Fixtures: Complete Schedule and results
Highlights Cricket World Cup 2023: New Zealand vs Afghanistan
What next for New Zealand vs Afghanistan?
The Kiwis will be back in action on October 22 against India. Whereas, the Afghans will face Pakistan a day later.
Who will win the 2023 World Cup?
India, England and Australia are among the top five favourites for the 2023 World Cup title. The odds from Dafabet are as follows.
| Team | Odds (Dafabet) |
|---|---|
| India | 2.25 |
| England | 9.00 |
| Australia | 6.00 |
| Pakistan | 13.00 |
| New Zealand | 7.00 |
Think you know who will win the 2023 Cricket World Cup? Place your bets here with Dafabet!
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