Afghanistan were made to earn a place in the Super Eight stage of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup as they defeated Papua New Guinea (P.N.G.) by seven wickets after sweating it out at the Brain Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad. The win also brought an end to New Zealand's hopes of making it to the Super Eight stage and they have been officially eliminated from the tournament.
Afghanistan are undefeated in the tournament and have accumulated six points after three wins in as many games. The Asian side has raced to the top of the points table in Group C with a net run rate of 4.140. West Indies also have six points to their credit and are the second team from Group C to make it to the next stage.
Unfortunately for New Zealand, they still have two games left but those fixtures will be inconsequential as they have already lost two and can only get to four points if they go on to win their remaining matches.
Coming back to the Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea game, Rashid Khan won the toss and had no hesitation in putting the opposition into bat. Papua New Guinea's batting order crumbled under the relentless pressure applied by the Afghan bowlers, especially by Fazalhaq Farooqi who picked up three wickets.
Farooqi was awarded the Player of the Match (POTM) for yet another terrific performance with the ball as he led Papua New Guinea's demolition job.
PNG were reeling at 50/7 and could have folded any time but a 38-run partnership between the wicketkeeper-batter Kiplin Doriga and Alei Nao helped them salvage their pride to a certain extent. PNG eventually got bundled out for 95 with a ball to spare.
Afghanistan's chase got off to a shaky start. They lost both their openers in quick succession but an unbeaten 46-run stand for the fourth wicket between Mohammad Nabi (16* off 23 balls) and Gulbadin Naib (49* off 36 balls) helped Afghanistan get over the line at the end.
