New Zealand beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets to progress to the semifinals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 from group 2 along with Pakistan. They have knocked out India from the tournament in the process with one game to go. Australia and England are the teams to advance to the semis from group 1.
New Zealand chased down 125 required to win inside 19 overs with skipper Kane Williamson anchoring the chase with scoring 40 off 42 balls along with Devon Conway’s 36. Prior to their batting, the Kiwis had a sensational performance on the field restricting the opposition to 124/5.
Najibullah Zadran played a lone hand scoring 73 off 48 balls to take the Afghans to a score that was well below par in the good batting conditions in Abu Dhabi.
Twitterverse reacted sadly to New Zealand’s qualification as it meant that the Indian team will not make it to the semis even if they beat Namibia by a big margin on Monday.
Twitter Reacts To New Zealand’s Semifinal Qualification, India’s Exit
Rashid, Nabi meet in Jay Shah office.
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) November 7, 2021
In 2019 ODI WC – New Zealand beat India in Semi-Final.
In 2021 WTC final – New Zealand beat India in Final.
In 2021 T20 WC – New Zealand beat Afghanistan to knock India out in the group stage.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 7, 2021
24th October – India lost to Pakistan.
31st October – India lost to New Zealand.
7th November – India out of T20 World Cup.
– The 3 Sundays have completely been ruined for India and fans.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) November 7, 2021
New Zealand are into the semis 👏#T20WorldCup | #NZvAFG | https://t.co/oXtboiXfOA pic.twitter.com/KaX0wDYxCj
— ICC (@ICC) November 7, 2021
Very well played #NewZealand . Clinical 👏👏. #AfgvsNZ #Afganistan #T20WorldCup
— RK (@RK_sports) November 7, 2021
So, India are out of #T20WorldCup and England will play New Zealand in the first semi-final on Wednesday.
— Rob Johnston (@RobJ_Cricket) November 7, 2021
The quiet, clinical efficiency with which #NewZealand approach slightly tricky totals against decent bowling attacks is something teams can learn from. Who better than Kane to show the way #T20Worldcup
— Kanishkaa Balachandran (@kanishkaab) November 7, 2021
I actually fancy #NZ winning the title. Have not shown the same flair and flamboyance as England, Pak, Australia, but have shown solidity, depth and resourcefulness in batting and bowling, brilliant in the field and led by a superb captain.
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) November 7, 2021
After a decade India failed to make it to semis in an ICC tournament. But, what hurts more is another great opportunity lost. #AfgvsNZ #AFGvNZ
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) November 7, 2021
Fair result. 2 best teams from the group make it. Pakistan And NZ def the top two from the group. Now to the Rohit Rahul era in white ball cricket. Not the best end for Virat in world cups but that’s how sport is.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) November 7, 2021
Meanwhile, this is the third time New Zealand have made it to the T20 World Cup semis after 2007 and 2016. Kane Williamson was in the thick of it all for him team leading his troops well.
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