This edition of the T20 World Cup has amused the cricketing world with its unpredictable antics. From slow tracks to large dimensions of ground in the USA and the islands of the West Indies, the games have been quite different from the general flow of the format.
However, the tracks in the West Indies, despite not being very high-scoring, have been far better to bat on. Batters like Gurbaz have relished batting at Barbados and Guyana; however, in spite of this, the largely anticipated greats of New Zealand have faced a major upset early on in the Cup.
Speaking of New Zealand’s tournament opener, the Kiwis crashed in front of a magical effort from the Afghan forces. Batting first, the Afghans, who started with a slow yet very steady 100-run opening partnership, went on to post a total of 159 runs.
Fazalhaq Farooqi started with an absolute skimmer of a delivery as he rattled the stumps wide on the very first ball. New Zealand’s loss of wickets never seemed to stop, as they started to fall like dried leaves. Farooqi, alongside skipper Rashid Khan, kept hunting down the Kiwi batters as the entire innings collapsed for a shameful total of just 75.
With Afghanistan’s huge victory by 84 runs, they have almost confirmed their entry into the Super-8; however, on the contrary, New Zealand are in deep trouble, and any further loss would end their chances in the World Cup.
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Under such fragile conditions, New Zealand will play the in-form hosts in their second encounter of the World Cup. The West Indies can look to capitalize on such favorable conditions and advance into the Super-8 stage.
said Powell while addressing their strategy against New Zealand
“Definitely, if there’s a good time to play New Zealand, I think it’s now; as you said, they’re a little bit undercooked. The pressure is really on them, because this game decides whether they go on: yes or no. Having said that, we’re not focusing on New Zealand; we’re focusing on what we have to do”
New Zealand, who have seen a serious and unavoidable dent in their net run rate, will have to win all of their remaining games in order to keep their hopes alive for qualification. As a team of New Zealand’s caliber, facing an early exit is quite disgraceful. They would look to give 100% against the mighty hosts on the Barbados track, which is expected to be low-scoring post heavy rains.