All hopes for the Indian cricket team were dashed thanks to a classy and controlled performance from New Zealand. Led by Williamson and supported by Conway, the black caps strolled to victory and to the semis as a fighting but poor Afghanistan team succumbed to a dismal defeat.
New Zealand beat Afghanistan by eight wickets in their last Super 12 stage match of the ongoing T20 World Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Chasing a total of 125 runs, New Zealand lost both the openers in the first 10 overs but an unbeaten 68-run partnership between skipper Kane Williamson (40*) and Devon Conway (38*) guided New Zealand to victory and semi-final qualification. With this result, India and Afghanistan are both out of the race for the final four. However, the Virat Kohli-led side has one more game left in the tournament against Namibia on Monday. The result of the India-Namibia game will make no change in India’s fate in the ongoing tournament. This is also the first time since 2012 that India failed to make it to the semi-finals of any ICC event– 2013 (Champions Trophy- winners), 2014 (T20 World Cup- runners-up), 2015 (ODI World Cup- semi-finalists), 2016 (T20 World Cup- semi-finalists), 2017 (Champions Trophy- runners-up), 2019 (ODI World Cup- semifinalists), 2021 (World Test Championship- runners-up).
After a decade India failed to make it to semis in an ICC tournament. But, what will hurt more is another great opportunity lost.
