After beating Afghanistan, New Zealand moved to the top of the World Cup standings.

In a crushing 149-run loss in Chennai on Wednesday, New Zealand crushed Afghanistan’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup. Afghanistan was unable to handle the New Zealand bowling assault, which was spearheaded by Mitchell Santner (3/39) and Lockie Ferguson (3/19), following their incredible success against England. Afghanistan was bowled out for just 140 after chasing a difficult mark of 289, with no batsman able to put up a strong fight. Afghanistan, who had hoped to go far in the competition, suffered an important setback with the loss.

On this surface, especially in the dark, New Zealand’s quicks were always going to be difficult to handle, and Afghanistan’s first few overs gave them a taste of what was to come. After Matt Henry and Trent Boult built an order, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran were unable to continue their good work over the first several overs. Before Zadran could obtain a soft leading edge on a flick shot and be trapped at cover, Henry delivered a stunning nip-backer to castle Gurbaz. Afghanistan’s innings were practically over early on due to this twin strike, given their reliance on their top order. Then Lockie Ferguson entered the game, and his bounce and speed destroyed the Afghan batsmen.

Hashmatullah Shahidi, the captain, and Rahmat Shah made an effort to save the innings, but they were unable to exert any pressure on the New Zealand bowlers, who were happy to deliver lengths and probing lines of delivery. As the needed run rate kept rising, it was obvious that Afghanistan would take a miracle to win the game. Ikram Alikhil and Azmatullah Omarzai showed some urgency, but by the time they reached the crease, the job was unachievable. New Zealand’s bowlers successfully knocked the middle and lower order to increase their already high net run rate.

Afghanistan’s run chases are growing more confusing. They usually begin with little intention, giving the middle and lower order too much to work with. Afghanistan chose to field after defeating New Zealand at the toss, maybe considering the dew issue. But the game was already done when the dew arrived. Another theme in this World Cup has been the support, with or without dew, that fast bowlers have enjoyed when playing under the lights. Afghanistan witnessed this directly during their Delhi match against England. But Afghanistan made some terrible fielding errors in the opening over.

Afghanistan missed several field goals, including a costly one early on including Will Young. Before Azmatullah Omarzai was introduced into the attack, New Zealand had reached 109/1 thanks to Afghanistan’s careless fielding, where Young had gone on to score an impressive fifty. Afghanistan was back in the game as Omarzai struck quickly, removing Young and Rachin Ravindra in the same over. After that over, Rashid Khan removed the dangerous Daryl Mitchell, leaving New Zealand at 110/4.

Together, Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips of New Zealand put an important 144 runs on a difficult track, winning the match at the fifth wicket. Between the wickets, the duo ran very well, applying pressure and causing mistakes to the Afghan fielders. Their strategy was crucial as it allowed them to take advantage of the opposition’s errors. While Latham needed some time to get going, Phillips was smooth right away, and both batters showed patience and tenacity to finish the inning. Although missed catches from Afghanistan helped them, New Zealand’s outstanding partnership earned them the win.

Dropped catches by Afghanistan proved costly as they let New Zealand score more than they should have. Rashid Khan was especially upset since he failed to capitalize on two bowling opportunities. Afghanistan may have limited New Zealand to about 250 runs with superior fielding, which would have affected the chase. But their carelessness in the field allowed New Zealand to score highly.