T20 World Cup 2021, Match 40: New Zealand vs Afghanistan, Stats Review: Rashid Khan’s record-breaking feat goes in vain as Kiwis go through

New Zealand are through to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2021! The Kiwis certainly have a knack of thriving in ICC events. On Sunday (November 7), New Zealand defeated Afghanistan by eight wickets in a virtual qualifier to get a semi-final ticket. It was indeed a comprehensive win for the Blackcaps as they dominated the Afghan side in all three departments.

Speaking of how the game panned out, New Zealand won the all-important toss and elected to bowl at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Tim Southee and Trent Boult made the new ball talk as Afghanistan suffered a top-order collapse. However, Najibullah Zadran came to their rescue and scored a fiery 73. His blitzes took the Afghan side to a respectable 124/8.

New Zealand needed to be sensible to get these runs on a challenging track and they embraced the challenge. Although the scoring rate was not high at any stage of the game, the Kiwis didn’t lose wickets. Skipper Kane Williamson and Devon Conway added an unbeaten 68-run stand for the third wicket as the Kiwis crossed the line in 18.1 overs, winning the game by eight wickets.

Meanwhile, here are the important stats and numbers from New Zealand vs Afghanistan clash in T20 World Cup 2021:

14 – This was the 14th occasion of New Zealand qualifying for the semi-finals of an ICC event.

400 – Rashid Khan became the fastest bowler to complete 400 T20 wickets, achieving the feat in 289 games.

4 – Overall, Rashid became the fourth bowler to get the feat. Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, and Imran Tahir are the other three with the feat.

2 – Martin Guptill became the second New Zealand player after Brendon McCullum to complete 8000 runs in T20 format.

3 – Najibullah Zadran recorded the third-highest score by a number five batter in a T20 World Cup match, 73.

73 – Najibullah Zadran also registered the highest score by an Afghanistan player in T20 World Cups.

400 – Mohammad Shahzad became the first Afghanistan player to score 400 T20 World Cup runs.

2 – Afghanistan recorded their second-lowest powerplay score in T20I cricket, 23/3.

65 – Rashid Khan is the highest wicket-taker in T20s this year, 65.

5 – Ish Sodhi has now struck in his first over in all five matches in the T20 World Cup 2021.