T20 World Cup: 3 Kabuliwala, KKR star named player of the match after forcing New Zealand to humiliating defeat

New Delhi. Afghanistan have created a major upset by defeating New Zealand in the T20 World Cup 2024. The New Zealand team suffered a humiliating defeat by 84 runs. This is the record for Afghanistan’s biggest win against New Zealand. With this win, Afghanistan have pushed themselves far ahead in the Super-8 battle. New Zealand are at the bottom of Group C in the points table, while Afghanistan are number one. There were three main heroes of Afghanistan’s win against New Zealand – Rahmatullah Gurbaz, Fazalhaq Farooqui and captain Rashid Khan. Interestingly, all these three players play in the IPL and are match winners for their respective teams.

KKR’s star player of the match
Batting first against New Zealand, Afghanistan scored 159 runs for 6 wickets. More than half of these runs came from the bat of Rahmatullah Gurbaz (80). He hit 5 fours and 5 sixes in a 56-ball innings. Gurbaz shared a partnership of 103 runs with Ibrahim Zadran. The pair broke up due to Ibrahim’s dismissal. After this Afghanistan lost wickets at regular intervals, but Gurbaz remained steadfast at one end. He was dismissed on the second ball of the 20th over. Rahmatullah Gurbaz was adjudged player of the match for his innings.

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Fazal did all the work in the first spell
After Rahmatullah Gurbaz, Fazal Haq Farooqui did the most damage to New Zealand. The left-arm pacer took three wickets for New Zealand in his very first spell. He dismissed Finn Allen, Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell. Due to Farooqui’s brilliant performance, New Zealand started to struggle, losing 3 wickets for 28 runs in the power play. Fazalhaq Farooqui also ended New Zealand’s innings by dismissing Matt Henry. His bowling analysis was 3.2-0-17-4.

Captain Rashid Khan also impressed
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan also performed brilliantly in this match. Fazalhaq Farooqui destroyed New Zealand’s top order while Rashid Khan proved to be a disaster for the middle order. Rashid Khan took 4 wickets for 17 runs in a spell of 4 overs. He dismissed Kane Williamson, Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell and Lockie Ferguson.

Tags: ICC T20 World Cup, New Zealand, Rashid Khan, T20 World Cup