There were many hopes on Afghanistan to win its last match against New Zealand. If that happened, India would have had a chance of qualifying for the semifinals. But the Kiwis were too tough for the Afghans to beat as they won the game comfortably by 8 wickets.
After winning the toss, Afghanistan chose to bat first. But the decision went wrong as it lost the wickets of Shahzad, Hazratullah and Gurbaz inside the powerplay. After that, Gulbadin and Mohammed Nabi gave good support to the in-form Najibullah. As a result, Najibullah (73) scored a blistering half-century. But sadly, he is the only one who performed well for his team. Due to the lack of effort from other team members, Afghanistan managed to score only 124 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs.
New Zealand had a low score to chase but they took a long time to reach the target. They knew that they need to win the match, regardless of the overs they play. Thus, the Kiwi players remained cautious throughout the innings and made sure to win the game in 18.1 overs. Though it lost the wickets of Guptill and Daryl Mitchell in the process, Kane Williamson (40*) and Devon Conway (36*) have finished things for their team.
With this win, New Zealand became the second team from Group B to qualify for the semifinals. It will now play England in the semis on November 10.