India has been knocked out of T20 World Cup 2021 before their final encounter against Namibia. Virat Kohli and his men had hoped that Afghanistan would give them a hope by defeating the kiwis but the Tim Southee and Trent Boult had altogether different plans. By virtue of this win New Zealand have sealed yet another ICC World Cup semi-final spot. With three teams vying for one spot, the equation was simplest for New Zealand and they made light work of Afghanistan. In a must-win game for both teams, the Kiwi pacers exerted a lot of pressure on the Afghan batters by removing the top three inside the powerplay.
Najibullah Zadran was impressive with the bat but none of the other batters made any notable contributions and Afghanistan ended up with a below-par score.Riding on a fighting fifty by Najibullah Zadran (73 off 48), Afghanistan posted a respectable 124/8 against New Zealand in a Super 12 match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, here on Sunday. While Zadran was the lone warrior for Afghanistan, Gulbadin Naib (15) and Mohammad Nabi (14) also chipped in with cameos while Trent Boult 3-17 and Tim Southee 2-24 were the main wicket-takers for the Black Caps. After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Afghanistan were off to a terrible start as they lost three wickets inside the Power-play. Mohammad Shahzad was the first one to get out as he tried to go for a flashy cut and got an under-edge, with wicketkeeper Conway completing the catch.
