Result: New Zealand won the match by 149 runs.
Player of the Match: Glenn Phillips
New Zealand Convincingly won all four of their matches, playing at a high level even without their star player Kane Williamson. Meanwhile, Afghanistan's poor performance in this match will hurt them after their recent heroic victory against England.
In the match, New Zealand batted first, losing Conway early on but Young and Ravindra fought back beautifully. Young scored 54 runs before departing, while Ravindra scored 32 runs before being bowled by Omarzai. Two quick wickets by Omarzai gave Afghanistan hope, but Captain Latham and Glenn Phillips batted well, with Phillips scoring 71 runs and Latham scoring 68 valuable runs. Chapman finished the innings with a quick-fire 25 runs, and New Zealand scored 288 runs. Afghanistan's many drop catches and loose bowling in the death overs gave New Zealand some extra runs.
New Zealand started strong in the field, with Milne getting the wicket of Gurbaz in the first over and Boult getting the wicket of Ibrahim. The slow innings by Shahidi and Rehmat Shah put Afghanistan into a big hole, and they never overcame the dent they made with their slow approach. The formalities were done by Forguson and Santner, who cleaned up the remaining batters with 3 wickets each.
New Zealand's consistent bowling and fielding placements were impressive, and Afghanistan failed to chase the target, failing to continue the momentum from their last game. The underperformance of their spin trio was one of the reasons they were never in the game.
New Zealand is currently in a great position to qualify for the semis and even the finals, having won on a flat Ahmedabad pitch and chased and defended on Chennai's slow pitch. They are a well-balanced side even without their main players like Kane Williamson and Tim Southee.
