CWC19 - New Zealand beat Afghanistan by 7 wickets

Taunton, June 9 - Kane Williamson and James Neesham starred with bat and ball respectively as New Zealand eased past Afghanistan, who were without Rashid Khan for one part of the game, with a seven-w

Earlier, Neesham broke Afghanistan's 66-run opening stand between Hazratullah Zazai and Noor Ali Zadran (31) by dismissing Zazai (34) before sending back Rahmat Shah (0) and then cleaning up their middle order with the scalps of skipper Gulbadin Naib (4), Mohammad Nabi (9) and Najibullah Zadran (4) in no time.

For the Afghans Hashmatullah Shahidi scored a defiant 59 but it was not enough to take them past the 200-run mark.

Besides Neesham, tearaway quick Ferguson took 4 wickets, giving away 37 runs in 9.1 overs. Ferguson ended Aftab Alam's 14 run cameo as he was caught by wicketkeeper Tom Latham who took as many as five catches behind the stumps. 

Brief scores: Afghanistan: 172 all out (Hashmatullah Shahidi 59; James Neesham 5/31, Lockie Ferguson 4/37) vs New Zealand 173/3 in 32.1 overs (Kane Williamson 79 not out; Ross Taylor 48; Aftab Alam 3/45).

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IANS