Afghanistan handed New Zealand a drubbing in the latter's first fixture of the 2024 T20 World Cup, while Bangladesh registered a tense victory against rivals Sri Lanka on June 7.
Afghanistan steamroll New Zealand
Put into bat, Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran stitched a record century opening partnership, their second of this World Cup in as many games. With not much support from others, Gurbaz led Afghanistan to a total of 159-6, 80 of those coming off his bat.
New Zealand didn't put up any fight in the chase as they were bundled out for just 75. Only two batters got into doube digits as the lack of match practice showed. Fazalhaq Farooqi followed up his five-for in the first game against Uganda with a four-for in this game. Rashid Khan took four wickets as well, finishing with figures of 4-17, the same as Farooqi's, as Afghanistan won by 84 runs to significantly strengthen their Super Eight chances.
Watch Afghanistan vs New Zealand highlights here:
View this post on Instagram
Bangladesh clinch thriller v Sri Lanka
Another fascinating chapter got added to the hottest rivalry in world cricket currently. After a good start with the bat which saw them reach 70-2 in the ninth over, Sri Lanka threw it away as they collapsed to 124-9 by the end of their 20 overs. Mustafizur Rahman (3-17) and Rishad Hossain (3-22) were the pick of the bowlers or Bangladesh.
In response, Bangladesh were in trouble at 28-3 in the sixth over when Towhid Hridoy and Litton Das stitched a 63-run fourth-wicket partnership. Regular wickets, however, kept the game on a knife's edge.
Bangladesh's eighth wicket fell with 12 runs needed for victory. Luckily for them, they had Mahmudullah at the crease, who guided them to safety as they won by two wickets with one over remaining.
Watch Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka highlights here:
View this post on Instagram
