Another triple-header day, and it starts with a good game. It’s a tight group, probably the tightest of all, so keep an eye on it. For now, the second game of the day, between England and Nepal, is starting. Check that out. Thanks for tuning in here. Take care.
Mitchell Santner, NZ captain Good day. Afg were a threat, was a massive game. Good wicket. Afg challenged us a lot as we thought they would. It was sticky to start. We’re playing in seven grounds, got to get a read on grounds and conditions quickly. Powerplays are important, Mujeeb was a challenge. It was a flat wicket in the end. Most teams stack their batting, having a batter at 8 is nice. We could be sharper. 3 o clock might be different. Cutters held. Just need partnerships. 180 was par.
Rashid Khan, Afghanistan captain Learnings from the bowling. We put on a good total. Areas we bowled gave more chances for them to score. Mujeeb started well, guys started well with bat too. But bowling after the powerplay is a problem. We have meetings, plans A and B sorted, it comes down to execution. We haven’t landed the ball in the right areas conditions consistently. Good length, at the stumps was tough to hit. We didn’t do that. Hope we don’t repeat that. Every batter tried their best to play their own game. I feel the way Gurbaz, Naib showed the right intent. Azmat, Nabi contributed too.
Tim Seifert, POTM Always nice to start with runs, more important to win. Tough conditions. Finn and I wanted to put pressure on the quicks. Sometimes spin came easier than pace. Experience of playing around the world, adapting to conditions and backing yourself helped.
Jim: ” 1.1 NRR for NZ in the Group of Death. Huge result. “
Deepak Samson: “What a sensible, controlled chase this has been from NZ. Never looked hurried or in trouble “
Ian: “A lot of wrong predictions were published in this commentary.” sigh, happens
2:23pm New Zealand’s highest chase ever in T20 World Cups! Didn’t look likely when Mujeeb got Ravindra and Allen in two balls. Seifert then stitched a 74-run partnership with Phillips. They handled spin in the middle overs really well. Rashid was hit for boundaries. And then when Nabi came on, Seifert got three boundaries before falling, that brought the equation down in their favour. After that, Santner, Chapman and Mitchell took them through.
