T20 World Cup 2026: New Zealand beat Afghanistan by five wickets

Tim Seifert hammered a 42-ball 65 runs to propel New Zealand to a five-wicket triumph against Afghanistan during their Group D T20 World Cup opener in Chennai on Sunday.

Afghanistan won the toss to bat first. Gulbadin Naib (63) struck a brilliant half-century to help Afghanistan reach a total of 182 for six. Sediqullah Atal (29) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (27) added valuable runs to the scoreboard.

In response, the New Zealand chased the target in 17.5 overs, with Seifert (65) and Glenn Phillips (42) providing the primary scoring power.

BRIEF SCORE

Afghanistan scored 182 runs for six wickets in 20 overs (Gulbadin Naib 63; Lockie Fergusen 2/32).

New Zealand scored 183 runs for 5 wickets in 17.5 overs (Tim Seifert 65; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2/31).

Group D T20 World Cup Opener Match

Initially, Afghanistan started fast, but Lockie Ferguson claimed two wickets in the last powerplay over to leave them reeling at 44-2. Naib, batting at three, took a moment to settle before sprinting to a 29-ball fifty, anchoring a recovery alongside Sediqullah Atal (29).

The Afghans subsequently plundered 110 runs during the back half of the innings, providing their spin-dominant bowlers a competitive total on a pitch suited to their style.

As New Zealand's chase commenced, crafty off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman struck in the second over, cleaning up opener Finn Allen and Rachin Ravindra with consecutive balls to shock the Kiwis.

However, Seifert and Phillips countered aggressively in a 74-run stand off 47 deliveries, shifting the momentum back to New Zealand.

Rashid Khan eventually dismissed Phillips but spilled a critical caught-and-bowled chance offered by Seifert.

Seifert capitalized, punishing Mohammad Nabi with successive sixes and a boundary before losing his wicket. Despite Mark Chapman falling for 28, Daryl Mitchell (25) and Mitchell Santner (17) showed composure to seal the win.

"It's always nice to start the tournament with a few runs, but the main thing is we got the win," player of the match Seifert said. "There were a couple of early wickets, so it's nice to get the job done."

Rashid expressed dissatisfaction with the Afghan bowling performance post-match.

"I feel like we have not landed the ball in the right areas consistently," the all-rounder said.

"It allowed them to score so many runs in the middle overs. If we could have bowled into the stumps and in the good length, it would have been very hard to score."