NZ vs AFG T20 World Cup 2021 Highlights: India knocked out of contention; New Zealand win by 8 wickets to make semifinal

Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (c), Devon Conway (wk), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult

Afghanistan Squad: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad(w), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Gulbadin Naib, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi(c), Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Naveen-ul-Haq, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Fareed Ahmad, Usman Ghani

New Zealand Squad: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson(c), Devon Conway(w), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Todd Astle, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Seifert, Mark Chapman

"We're really aware of the strengths that Afghanistan bring both with the bat and the ball, especially in the spin bowling attack. If we get the basics right for a long enough period of time, keep doing the things we've been doing well, I think we'll give ourselves a good chance" - Ish Sodhi

Which captain will the coin favour?

"About the team campaign, we only focus on ourselves, our team. Our main focus is how we qualify for semifinals. So we will go with that" - Hashmatullah Shahidi

Ravichandran Ashwin had offered some physio support for Afghanistan to put the injured Mujeeb Ur Rahman back on the park. But on Saturday, Afghanistan weren’t sure if he would be fit. Mystery spinner Rahman has been a key weapon in the powerplay with six wickets in two matches at an average of 5.66, an economy rate of 4.25. When Rahman has played, forming a spin troika with Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi, Afghanistan have looked a different bowling unit.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman has missed the last two games due to an injury and there has been no confirmation yet whether he will feature in the game or not. Indian fans, for sure, are praying for AFG's spin giant to return

New Zealand skipper so far hasn’t got going in the 4 matches he has scored 86 runs at a strike rate of 100.00. His scores are as follow (latest first): 28 , 0, 33* ,25.But playing against spin-heavy Afghan bowling attack Kane Williamson will be a key player as he has experience of playing the spin trio in the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s camp during IPL and could be the standout performer for New Zealand. Williamson has scored 229 runs in 6 innings at Abu Dhabi in T20s with an average of 45.80 and strike rate of 127.93 with two fifties in it. His last three scores at Abu Dhabi in T20s are as follow: (31, 67 and 50*)

Ish Sodhi maintained his good form throughout the year so far and his tally of wickets has gone to 24 wickets in 2021 which accounts 30% of his T20I wickets (24/80). 24 wickets by Sodhi are the most by a New Zealand bowler in any calendar year. In 11 innings in this year Sodhi has been wicketless only once and when in it comes T20 World Cup he has picked in every match he has played for New Zealand.

Karim Jannat showed his ability with the bat with a late flourish down the order batting at #7 vs India by scoring 42* off just 22 balls striking at 190.90. Karim has been brilliant so far this year and has scored 157 runs with the bat and picked 6 wickets as well. He bowled just one overs vs India and dismissed Rohit Sharma. Karim is only the 5 Afghan player to have a double of 100 plus runs and pick 5 plus wickets in a calendar year. Playing at Abu Dhabi Karim has a strike rate of 143.85 which is the best among all the Afghan players with a minimum of 100 runs at this venue, earlier this year he has smashed a fifty as well at Abu Dhabi vs ZIM. With the ball, he has picked 30 wickets at an average of 27.93 and has an economy rate of 8.28 but at Abu Dhabi, it gets better in 6 innings he has picked 6 wickets at an average of 19.66 and economy rate of 6.87.

Martin Guptill has got starts in all the matches so far in this T20 World Cup. With 148 runs he is the leading run-getter for New Zealand in this tournament so far. He is the only batsman to score a fifty in this T20 World Cup. 148 runs by Guptill are also the most he has scored in an edition of theT20 World Cup he has been part of T20 World Cup since 2009. Guptill has 23 sixes which is the joint-most sixes by a New Zealand batsman in T20 World Cup so far. Guptill needs 26 runs to complete 8000 T20 runs

Rashid Khan with 102 T20I wickets is the 4th highest wicket-taker. He has a strike rate of 12.1 balls in T20Is. In this year Rashid has picked 13 wickets in 7 innings so far only twice he has been wicketless along with this he has picked one four-fer and thrice he has managed to pick multiple wickets in an innings. Further at Abu Dhabi in T20Is Rashid has 11 wickets in 7 matches which is 3rd most wickets taken by Rashid at any venue in T20Is.In this World cup so far Rashid Khan has picked 7 wickets and 6 of them have been come in the form of LBW and bowled. Overall, in his T20Is Rashid has picked 22 wickets in LBW which is the most by a bowler in T20Is and 35 wickets in form of bowled which is also the most by spinner in T20Is

Afghanistan skipper is one of the main pillars of his team’s batting order. Nabi is the only batsman in this team to score 100 plus runs in this T20 World cup so far. He has scored 113 runs in 4 innings and has been dismissed only once so far, Nabi has got these runs at a strike rate of 132.94. He has the best strike rate among all the captains in this T20 World Cup.60 % of Nabi’s runs in this tournament have come in boundaries. Nabi can be handy with the ball as well he has picked 73 wickets in T20Is.

Trent Boult with 8 wickets is the leading the New Zealand bowling attack. He has picked wickets in every match of this T20 world Cup. Boult has a knack of performing at the big stage for New Zealand in T20 World Cup he has played 6 matches and picked 12 wickets which includes two three-wicket hauls. Boult has an economy rate of 6.04 and picks wickets within 12 balls. 5 times Boult has picked 3 and more wickets in an innings in T20Is, two of them have come in T20 World Cup (3/20 vs SL, 2014 and 3/30 vs IND, 2021). Boult has a strike rate of 15.4 when he bowls with the new ball which is best among all bowlers who have bowled with the new ball in min. 30 matches hence Boult can be a treat to Afghanistan if he gets through the top-order early

The two sides are meeting in a T20I for the first-time ever

Namibia -166/4 in 19 overs |Target- 165 | Opposition -Netherlands

20 Oct 2021

Hong Kong- 166/4 in 19.4 overs |Target- 163 | Opposition -Afghanistan

1 hour to go for the all-important toss. We know how crucial it is to win the toss in the UAE. Who will bag that early W today?

Best Bowling Figures:

4/13 By Craig Young (Ireland) Against Nigeria In 2019.

Highest Partnership:

140 By KL Rahul And Rohit Sharma (India) For 1st Wicket

Against Afghanistan In 2021.

Win Rate Batting First:

50% (5 Won; 5 Lost)

Highest Team Total:

225/7 By Ireland Against Afghanistan In 2013.

Lowest Team Total:

84/10 By Bangladesh Against South Africa In 2021.

Highest Individual Score:

117 By Shaiman Anwar (United Arab Emirates) Against Papua

New Guinea In 2017.

1. Pakistan- 4 matches - 8 points | NRR:+1.065 

2. New Zealand- 4 matches, - 6 points | NRR: +1.277

3. India- 4 matches - 4 points | NRR: +1.619

4. Afghanistan- 4 matches- 4 points | NRR: +1.481

5. Namibia- 4 matches - 2 points | NRR: -1.851

6. Scotland - 4 matches - 0 points | NRR: -3.494

1. Pakistan- 4 matches, 4 wins, 0 losses - 8 points

2. New Zealand- 4 matches, 3 wins, 1 losses - 6 points

3. India- 4 matches, 2 wins, 2 losses - 4 points

4. Afghanistan- 4 matches, 2 wins, 2 losses - 4 points

5. Namibia- 4 matches, 1 wins, 3 losses - 2 points

6. Scotland - 4 matches, 0 wins, 4 losses - 0 points

Right, ahead of the first clash of this bumper Sunday, let's take a look at the standings:

1. Pakistan
2. New Zealand
3. India
4. Afghanistan
5. Namibia
6. Scotland

India, in their 4th game, went on a rampage to crush Scotland. Knowing that the Men in Blue needed to win big, they went out will guns blazing. After bundling out the Scots on 85, they chased down the target in 6.3 overs to cruise to the highest NRR of the group so far.

On Wednesday, India and Afghanistan faced on and the two sides played an exciting encounter in Abu Dhabi. In the end, India got off the mark in the tournament with a 66-run win. While it did some good for India's NRR, AFG's suffered