New Zealand beat Afghanistan, India out of last four race

PBC News:  New Zealand beat Afghanistan by eight wickets in their last Super 12 stage match of the ongoing T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Chasing a total of 125 runs, New Zealand lost both the openers in the first 10 overs but an unbeaten 68-run partnership between skipper Kane Williamson (40*) and Devon Conway (38*) guided New Zealand to victory and semi-final qualification.

With this result, India and Afghanistan are both out of the race for the final four. However, the Virat Kohli-led side has one more game left in the tournament against Namibia on Monday.

The result of the India-Namibia game will make no change in India’s fate in the ongoing tournament.

This is also the first time since 2012 that India failed to make it to the semi-finals of any ICC event– 2013 (Champions Trophy- winners), 2014 (T20 World Cup- runners-up), 2015 (ODI World Cup- semi-finalists), 2016 (T20 World Cup- semi-finalists), 2017 (Champions Trophy- runners-up), 2019 (ODI World Cup- semifinalists), 2021 (World Test Championship- runners-up).