Afghanistan vs New Zealand, Match 13 - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

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Here's what the players had to say

Kane Williamson: It was an outstanding effort. There are some world-class players in the Afghan side. I have played with a number of them for a few years. They got off to a good start and it was important to build some pressure in the middle-overs, and the way the seamers came back in the middle-overs was fantastic - pace, bounce and a bit of movement did it for them. Lockie doesn't need a lot of encouragement to turn up the speed. He has been fantastic in the three games so far. The left and right-arm combination helps up top and Neesham hitting the wicket hard with the bounce, pace and the movement - the same with their opening bowlers. The fielding, I think, was great from us. The batting improved from the last match. We have chased three games in a row and we are trying to chase some of the lower targets on surfaces that, if you're put under pressure, you can pick up wickets. It is important to build the partnerships in those situations. Every game you play, you set out to win it, and it's great to have three wins in a row to start with. We have a couple of days off now, and then we have India after that so we need to adapt to new venues, which is the nature of tournament sport, but the guys will be looking forward to it.

Gulbadin Naib: We started really well. Hazrat and Noor were great with the bat. We misread the length of the ball, some of us batsmen, and we threw our wickets away early. So credit to the Kiwi bowlers. We have to play out 50 overs, and it is important for us to stay at the wicket. Our bowlers started well. The wickets did not support the fast bowlers, so we missed out on Rashid. I just tell the boys to keep calm, and show a little more composure in the middle. We missed out on saving some boundaries too and we were not great in the field, so we have a long way to go - the improvement at this high level of cricket will happen day by day.

Jimmy Neesham | Man of the Match: Pretty pleased with my performance today. Afghanistan put us under pressure very early with the bat, but we knew we had the ability to dent them even after the start they got. The chase was clinical, obviously. Our home conditions are lower and slower, but the bouncy conditions suited me personally to be honest. I let a few external voices affect my bowling, and I went back to my forte today - hitting the deck hard, and not trying to swing the ball too much.

New Zealand win by seven wickets

Jimmy Neesham picked up his maiden five-wicket haul while Lockie Ferguson took four to restrict Afghanistan to just 172. The chase was a walk in the park for Kane Williamson and Co. as they polished off the chase in 32.1 overs.

Afghanistan came into the contest with two defeats weighing them down. They handed the initiative to Australia and Sri Lanka as they had slipped to 77 for 5 and 57 for 5 respectively. On the day, Hazratullah Zazai and Noor Ali Zadran gave the team a superb start by scoring 66 for the opening wicket. Zazai's aggressive approach rattled New Zealand just a touch early on as they let him get away with chances. On two consecutive balls, the fielders miss-judged two skiers as the opener gave the team a brisk start.

When Afghanistan were cruising at 66 for no loss, it seemed the batting unit was finally going to post a challenging total. But Neesham entered to change the scenario completely. Afghanistan lost three wickets with adding a run to the score. Zazai, a predominantly on-side player, was forced to chase a wide one and sliced a simple catch to sweeper cover. Zadran was bounced out by Ferguson while Rahmat Shah succumbed to Neesham.

Things kept getting worse. Between the 11th over to 15th over Afghanistan lost four wickets and scored just four. The game had tilted in New Zealand's favour and they never took the foot off the throat. Hashmatullah Shahidi, who struck a fighting half-century, and Mohammad Nabi took the team past 100 but the two rain breaks didn't help them either. The short bursts forced the players out for very short durations but was enough to not allow the batsmen to settle down.

Neesham completed his five-wicket haul in the 24 with twin strikes. In just one over, he nipped out Nabi and Najibullah to leave the lower-order too much to do. There was, however, no resistance and support for Shahidi even when he was ready to grind it out. Ikram Alikhil's World Cup debut was underwhelming while Rashid Khan lasted just four balls. The legspinner took a blow to his helmet and saw the ball crash into the stumps. He, after that, failed the concussion test and wasn't allowed to take part in the game as Afghanistan's bowling stocks plunged further.

There were some late hitting but New Zealand were always in control to now allow any substantial stand to flourish. Aftab Alam gave Afghanistan a dream start as he dismissed Martin Guptill on the first ball of the chase. Colin Munro and Williamson made a steady start and soon settled down to ease the nerves. In the eighth over, however, Munro guided a short ball straight to third man to fall for 22.

Williamson and Ross Taylor took it slow initially but took the team close without much fuss. There was drama as well when Williamson survived a review for a caught-behind appeal and then a runout. Alam yorked Taylor in the 26th over but New Zealand needed just 43 by then. New Zealand continue to top the table and are two points clear of second-placed England, who registered a win over Bangladesh and now have two wins from three games.

Brief scores: Afghanistan 172 in 41.1 overs (Hashmatullah Shahidi 59; Jimmy Neesham 5-31, Lockie Ferguson 4-37) lost to New Zealand 173/3 in 32.1 overs (Kane Williamson 79*; Aftab Alam 3-45) by seven wickets.

Three down

Third wicket for Alam. He yorks Taylor and gets the reward but New Zealand need just 43 now. Latham has walked out to bat while Williamson is cruising.

New Zealand 134 for 3 in 26