Fazalhaq Farooqui castles Finn Allen with a ripper in New Zealand vs Afghanistan T20 World Cup clash - WATCH

Source: News9live
Author: Amit Sharma

New Delhi: New Zealand took on Afghanistan to start off their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. However, the Kiwis struggled to meet expectations being clinically dominated by the Afghan side in the second half of the game. From the very start of New Zealand's chase, the batters couldn't settle down as the scoreboard saw wickets falling at rapid succession.

Skipper Kane Williamson had opted to bowl first as Afghanistan posted a daunting 159/6 in 20 overs on the back of Rahamanullah Gurbaz's 80 and Ibrahim Zadran's 44. The Kiwi bowlers tried their best as Trent Boult and Matt Henry picked two wickets apiece. In response, New Zealand was expected to go big in the powerplay but Fazalhaq Farooqui, who started the Afghan attack, struck an early blow to the Blackaps.

As Finn Allen and Devon Conway strode out to bat, Allen took the strike and faced the first ball of the chase, getting bowled. Farooqui bowled a full-length swinging in delivery to which Finn Allen tried going for the big on-drive without any foot movement. The swing wasn't addressed and he had to pay the price as the ball curled past the inside edge to crash into the poles.

Allen was stunned while Farooqui was pumped up, delivering a grand start for Afghanistan by removing the Kiwi opener on a golden duck.

As the game flows, it seems extremely difficult for the Kiwi side to chase the 160-run target. What could have been a comfortable chase was cut short by the classy Afghan bowling attack which gained a lot of attention in their tournament opener against Uganda. Something similar was on display as Farooqui went on to bag two more wickets, including removing Conway as well.

Skipper Rashid Khan joined the wicket-taking party, picking a four-fer as well with veteran Mohammad Nabi having his say with two wickets. New Zealand never looked comfortable in the game, being outclassed by the Afghanistan bowlers, and will be under tremendous shock trying to figure out what was up with their batting.