T20 World Cup: New Zealand Secure Semifinal Spot With Comprehensive Win Over Afghanistan, End India’s Last Four Hopes
On Sunday, all eyes of Indians were on the match on New Zealand and Afghanistan that would decide the fate of India reaching the semi-finals. However, luck is not on our side for this T20 World Cup for India.
Team India was rooting for Afghanistan to win as that would equate their net run rate and they would qualify for the Semi-finals. However, New Zealand is a much stronger team and secured their spot in the semi-finals after Afghanistan lost from them by 8 wickets.
New Zealand won the match against Afghanistan easily with only 125 runs to chase and finished the match in 18.1 overs. They are going to compete with England, Australia and Pakistan. How fast the tables turn. The true efforts of teams like Pakistan and New Zealand are shining in this T20 World Cup.
After New Zealand won the match, the India v/s Namibia match isn’t something people are looking forward to. Although Team India performed well with Scotland and Afghanistan, the first two defeats with Pakistan and New Zealand hurt the team immensely.
New Zealand will be playing against England or Australia in the semifinals. Daryl Mitchell and Martyl Guptill were the only 2 wickets that Afghanistan players Mohammad Shahzad and Rashid Khan could take in Sunday’s afternoon match.
Kane Williamson and Devon Conway had a great partnership by scoring 40 runs and 36 runs respectively. On the other hand, Afghanistan was keeping their hopes up to reach the semifinals only got its best score because of the efforts of Najibullah Zadran (73 of 48 balls).
So, Virat Kohli’s last T20 tournament as a captain is coming to a miserable end as people had high hopes for them. The Namibia match will also be Ravi Shastri’s last as the head coach. Rahul Dravid is going to be the next head coach after the T20 World Cup ends for further matches of India.
On the other hand, former cricketers expressed their opinion on India’s premature departure from the tournament.
India’s campaign at the #ICCT20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/VhsdiQld8I
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) November 7, 2021
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Harbhajan Singh congratulated New Zealand for securing the spot in the semi-finals expressing that they deserved it for their exceptional hard work.
Well done @BLACKCAPS for getting into semis..you guys deserve it. How good is Kane Williamson wah.. love this man and his NZ team.. I know india isn’t going forward no worries we will get better and come back stronger @BCCI
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) November 7, 2021
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So after 9 years and 6 succesive semi-final qualifications, India fail to qualify for the semi-finals of a ICC event. Haven’t played to potential and it will hurt the team a lot. Time to get the act right for next year’s world cup in Australia.
Advertisement— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) November 7, 2021
The final match of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 will be held on November 14.
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