Catches win matches. Afghanistan’s failure to capitalize on opportunities proved costly. They let the game against New Zealand slip through their grasp in Chennai and suffered a 149-run loss. A fourth win in as many matches took New Zealand to the top of the World Cup table.
After the stunning victory over England in Delhi, Afghanistan seemed to have fought back against New Zealand. From 109/1, the total became 110/4 in the 22nd over. The Afghans claimed three wickets in just nine balls. But shortcomings in the field made them pay a heavy price. They dropped five catches, at different stages of the innings. Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi was guilty on two occasions. A stumping opportunity also went abegging.
The total of 288 that New Zealand got was looking unlikely at one stage. Will Young, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra made promising starts. But only Young managed to score a fifty. Conway fell to Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman. Young and Ravindra built a partnership that provided stability. Observing this, skipper Hashmatullah introduced his sixth bowling option, Azmatullah Omarzai, who made instant impact by dismissing the set batters in the same over.
Ravindra fell to a reckless shot across the line, while Young was caught brilliantly by wicketkeeper Ikram Alikhil. Daryl Mitchell was the other man dismissed. During this challenging period, stand-in skipper Tom Latham (68) and Glenn Phillips (71) steadied the ship and accelerated towards the end. They batted with care and reconstructed the innings with a partnership of 144. After losing their fourth wicket in the 22nd over, New Zealand lost the fifth and sixth in the 48th over, bowled by Naveen-ul-Haq.
In the last 10 overs, the Afghan bowlers conceded 103 runs.
Chasing a target of 289 was always going to be tough. Afghanistan began decently, with openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran looking to settle down. But both were quickly dismissed by new ball bowlers Matt Henry and Trent Boult.
Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah started cautiously, but the latter was stunningly caught by Mitchell Santner. The New Zealand bowlers consistently built pressure, and the fielders supported their efforts, pushing the required run rate up. Also, a lack of intent was evident in Rahmat and Azmatullah Omarzai.
When they tried to accelerate, both batters fell. From that point, there was no way back for Afghanistan. Mohammad Nabi’s stumps were shattered by an exceptional delivery from Santner. From the high of humbling England to being outplayed by New Zealand in every department, this has been a quick reality check for Afghanistan. Once this sinks in, they should start paying a lot more attention to fielding.