Abu Dhabi: India’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup have been shattered. In the group match played on Sunday, New Zealand defeated Afghanistan by eight wickets. With this New Zealand have secured their place in the semi-finals. With the victory of New Zealand, the journey of the Indian team in the World Cup has come to an end.
In fact, if Afghanistan had defeated New Zealand in the last match of the league, then India’s chances of going to the semi-finals would have increased. Because, if we talk about the run rate tally of Group 2, then India’s run rate is more than all the teams. If New Zealand had lost the match, it would have got six points and its run rate would have also been reduced. In the same match, if India had defeated Namibia with a good score, then the points of all three teams would have been equal. At this time, which team will go to the semi-finals will be decided by the run rate. At that time India’s run rate would have been the highest and Team India would have entered the semi-finals.
Afghanistan scored 124 runs
Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat first. But the team got off to a bad start. Afghanistan’s opening five wickets fell for 60 runs. However, during this time Najibullah remained at one end and scored the sixth half-century of his T20 career. Thanks to Najibullah’s 73, Afghanistan set New Zealand a target of 125 runs to win. Trent Boult bowled brilliantly for New Zealand, taking three wickets for 17 runs in four overs.
New Zealand won the match with 11 balls to spare
Chasing the target, New Zealand did not have a good start. The team lost its first wicket on a score of 25 runs. Captain Kane Williamson, who came out to bat at number three, froze on the pitch while batting in his familiar style. At the same time, Devon Conway also supported him and led the team to victory. New Zealand won the match with 11 balls to spare, thanks to Kane and Conway’s 40 and 36 runs respectively.
