Afghanistan captain and spin bowler Rashid Khan took four for 17 in his team’s second decisive victory in the tournament; they defeated Uganda by 125 runs at the same venue on Tuesday and are on top of Group C.
After New Zealand captain Kane Williamson elected to field first, Afghanistan reached a respectable 159 for six from their 20 overs, with openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (80) and Ibrahim Zadrau (44) putting on 103 for the first wicket from 14.3 overs.
Left-arm pace bowler Trent Boult took the new ball, with Lockie Ferguson opening from the other end, and conceded three boundaries in a row to Zadrau, two of them from streaky shots that flew down to fine leg and third man respectively.Zadrau was dropped on the square leg boundary by Finn Allen from a lofted hook that he appeared to lose in the lights with the batsman on 13.
Gurbaz had already received a let-off when he dabbed the ball to third man, took off for a single and was out of his crease when he was sent back, but wicketkeeper Devon Conway was unable to catch the return.
New Zealand would still have been reasonably happy at the halfway stage with Afghanistan on 55 for two, but the two openers then went on the charge. Zadrau hit off-spinner Michael Bracewell for a brace of sixes and Gurbaz cracked Boult for another six when the pace bowler returned.
The Kiwis finally took a wicket when Matt Henry bowled Zadrau, with Henry taking a second wicket when Azmatullah Omazari was caught by Lockie Ferguson for 22. Boult returned to take two wickets in the final over with a runout.
New Zealand were immediately in trouble when they lost Finn Allen to the first ball of their innings, bowled leg stump by a ball from Fazalhaq Farooqi that jagged back off the seam.
His opening partner Devon Conway followed for eight and Daryl Mitchell was caught behind for five leaving New Zealand at a parlous 28 for three. Khan took the ball and struck in his first over, dismissing Mark Chapman for four and Michael Bracewell with his next delivery.
He then dismissed his opposite number, Williamson caught at slip, and New Zealand were finally all out after 15.2 overs for their second-lowest T20 score ever.
Bangladesh prevailed over Sri Lanka by two wickets in a thrilling encounter held on Saturday during the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 in Dallas.
Bangladesh had a target of 125 runs, but were defeated by eight wickets in the 19th over.
It appeared that Bangladesh would easily achieve the target, but Sri Lanka made a comeback by reducing the batting side from 91-3 to 113-8.
However, Mahmudullah was able to overcome his nerves and take Bangladesh over the line by scoring 16 runs in 13 balls.
Towhid Hridoy finished with 40 runs in 20 balls, with the help of four maximums and a four. He also contributed 36 runs.
Nuwan Thushara emerged as the standout bowler for Sri Lanka, posting figures of 4-18 in four overs.
Earlier in the week, Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bowl first against Sri Lanka.
In the initial innings, Sri Lanka was able to achieve a score of 124-9 in 20 overs.
Sri Lanka were 100-3 in 14 overs and looked set to post a competitive total. Nevertheless, the bowlers of Bangladesh accumulated a flurry of wickets to constrain the batting team to a modest total.
Mustafizur Rahman and Rishad Hossain, who bagged the award for Player of the match, took three wickets each for Bangladesh and were the pick of the bowlers.
Pathum Nissanka scored 47 runs in 28 balls, including seven fours and a six.
Bangladesh will be playing their first match of the tournament, while Sri Lanka will be looking to bounce back from their opening match defeat against South Africa.
Teams
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (w), Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga (c), Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Maheesh Theekshana, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana
