T20 World Cup: New Zealand show they are ready for long haul

CHENNAI: The 1-4 T20I series thrashing at the hands of India might have painted New Zealand as a vulnerable unit ahead of the T20 World Cup, but it prepared them for the real battle. On Sunday morning in the MA Chidambaram Stadium, a polished and well-rounded Black Caps team arrived in force and outmanoeuvred a sturdy Afghanistan by five wickets in the Group D encounter.

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Even after Gulbadin Naib’s powerful 63 (35 balls; 3x4, 4x6) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s ferocious double-strike in the second over of their innings, New Zealand efficiently chased down the target of 183 on a new surface where it could get difficult.




This win marked New Zealand’s highest successful run chase in T20 World Cup history --surpassing their previous best of 167 against England in the 2021 semifinal — with much of the credit going to opening batter Tim Seifert’s swaggering fightback of 65 off 42 balls (7x4, 3x6) and allrounder Glenn Phillips’ audacious 42 off 25 balls (7x4, 1x6). The duo delighted the 20,000-odd Sunday crowd with a clinical batting display.

After mystery spinner Mujeeb, with his subtle variations, rattled the stumps of opener Finn Allen and Rachin Ravindra off successive deliveries in the second over of the chase, Phillips thwarted the hat-trick ball and joined Seifert to restore stability. Their 74-run stand for the third wicket smartly accelerated the innings while tackling Afghanistan’s spin threat head-on.

Their job was made just a bit easier by Afghanistan’s decision not to play chinaman bowler Noor Ahmad — who plies his trade in IPL for Chennai Super Kings. His Chennai experience could have been vital on these conditions, but Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott argued that the pitch is new and it would still have been alien for Noor.



“We thought the cracks would produce a bit of uneven bounce, and that proved to be the case. I think the selection was right, but we didn’t bowl well enough. The seamers, unfortunately, didn’t execute as they should have. Credit to them; they put our seamers under pressure,” Trott said after the match.

Seifert, the player of the match, said the conditions were tough. “It’s always nice to start the tournament with a few runs under your belt. But the main thing is we got the win. I thought the spin actually came a little bit easier than the seam. So it went my way, it’s all about the momentum and who you’re going to target throughout the innings,” said the wicketkeeper-batter.

True to his words, Seifert, during his knock, particularly took a liking to left-arm medium pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi, hitting him for five of his 10 boundaries.

When captain Rashid Khan entered the attack, Phillips greeted him with back-to-back boundaries to seize control. Rashid eventually had his say, in his next over, by dismissing Phillips in his next over, but Seifert continued to anchor the chase, pulling veteran spinner Mohammad Nabi for a six over square leg to bring up his half-century before adding two eye-catching boundaries to long-off and deep mid-wicket. By the time Seifert was dismissed, he had done his job, reducing the equation to a chasable 57 off 42 balls, which New Zealand did in 17.5 overs.

Brief Scores: Afghanistan 182 for 6 (Gulbadin Naib 63; Doug Ferguson 2-40) lost to New Zealand 183 for 5 (Seifert 65, Phillips 42, Mitchell 25*, Mujeeb 2-31) by five wickets


Get the latest ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 updates, including the full schedule, teams, live scores, points table, and key series stats such as top run-scorers and wicket-takers.