Discpline is of utmost importance in a competition like the World Cup. That’s what New Zealand proved again. This time in the form of their clinical 149-run win over Afghanistan at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.
The collapse midway during their innings aside — when they lost three wickets for just a run to slump to 110/4 in the 22nd over from 109/1 in over No.21 — the Black Caps got most things right that earned them their fourth straight win in the competition and the top spot in the standings.
On the other hand, Afghanistan, who had been basking in the glory of their triumph over defending champions England last Sunday, were extremely sloppy on the field as they dropped the easiest of catches that benefited New Zealand to a fair extent after being put into bat.
For sure, stand-in captain Tom Latham’s 74-ball 68 and Glenn Phillips’ 71 off 80 balls, alongside their 144-run fifth-wicket partnership, were paramount to New Zealand’s recovery, helping the team total to 288/6. But to be fair, the 2019 runners-up would have struggled to reach even 250 had the Afghans not been butter-fingered during the Latham-Phillips partnership.
Thereafter, while defending the total, the Black Caps were absolutely spot-on while fielding. Forget letting go of chances coming their way, Mitchell Santner even plucked a brilliant one-handed diving catch to send back Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi alongside striking thrice with his left-arm spin on a surface he knows quite well, courtesy his stint with the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.
Like Santner, pacer Lockie Ferguson too scalped three wickets, with some of the Afghanistan batters playing very poor strokes. In other words, contrary to New Zealand, Afghanistan were just as indisciplined in almost all aspects.
