New Zealand’s national cricket team, commonly referred to as the Black Caps, represents their country internationally in cricket competition. Both men’s and women’s teams participate in Test, T20 and long format events respectively.
The Black Caps have had an inauspicious start to their tournament, suffering two defeats against England and then West Indies respectively. On Wednesday they face another crucial test against West Indies. Read also new zealand national cricket team vs afghanistan national cricket team match scorecard.
Afghanistan 159 (Izadran 80) vs New Zealand 165 (Azmatullah Omarzai 22)
Afghanistan and New Zealand will meet for their inaugural test match at Greater Noida Cricket Stadium, marking both nations’ debuts. Furthermore, this bilateral Test series hosted by Afghan Cricket Board will mark its inaugural bilateral Test series – all taking place September 9. Prior to commencing, both sides will undergo three days of training and conditioning camps before competing on September 9.
Rain has continued to play havoc as day four of Afghanistan and New Zealand’s only Test was called off without even the opening toss being conducted due to persistent rainfall at Shaheed Vijay Pathik Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. Officials decided against continuing after conducting a thorough ground assessment process, opting instead to cancel this match at 9 am today due to poor field conditions.
After only winning two out of their last four Tests, New Zealand were hoping to use this match against Afghanistan to rebound and retake top spot in the ICC World Test Rankings. Unfortunately, their lack of practice and some rustiness showed in both fielding and batting as Afghanistan proved too strong a competition for New Zealand to handle. It is an irreparable loss for New Zealand, so they will certainly try hard in their next match against West Indies at Eden Park to regain top position again.
New Zealand batsmen found it hard to compete against Afghanistan’s spin and movement attack, losing two top order players early: Rahmat Shah fell for a duck off Mohammad Nabi while Finn Allen was run out by Mohammad Asghar’s brilliant fielding skills.
New Zealand suffered a middle overs collapse that saw their score decline from 103-6 to 97-6, as Mohammad Nabi was given out for a duck off a no-ball from Rashid Khan before Mohammad Shahzad was caught at midwicket from Boult’s short delivery. Azmatullah Omarzai replaced Nabi at No. 3, helping keep their scorecard ticking over with 22-ball innings that featured two sixes and three boundaries off Henry Henry.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson quickly responded by congratulating India for their win, noting their splendid play on a tricky surface. While reviewing their defeat, however, Kane stated it is best for his team to quickly move on if losses continue coming thick and fast in this tournament. Kane also encouraged New Zealand fans to come out in large numbers at future matches and insisted New Zealand fans make sure their voices heard during all group matches moving forward. After traveling to Sri Lanka for two Test matches before heading back into India for three more starting October 16 in Bengaluru before traveling back into India again before heading over for three more Test series beginning October 16 at Bengaluru before heading over for two Test series starting October 16 at Bengaluru before heading off back over for three more tests starting October 16 in Bengaluru before heading over to Sri Lanka before heading off before heading back into India again before heading over for three Test series beginning October 16 in Bengaluru before heading over before heading south again before travelling over to Sri Lanka before returning back into India before taking part in three series before starting October 16 before returning back out for three more tests starting October 16 before returning for three more Test series which they started October 16 before moving onto Sri Lanka before travelling again before heading over ahead of return before return into Indian waters again for three more Test series.
New Zealand 165 (Tom Latham 59) vs Afghanistan 159 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 80)
Afghanistan were hopeful of pulling off another stunning upset when they took on New Zealand at Sahid Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium, but their opponent soon put aside any plans of dominance by dominating from start to finish and winning by 149 runs – providing a significant edge over Group C and strengthening NRR standings in Group C.
Tom Latham led New Zealand from behind with another century, taking their total score to 288/6 at the close of their innings. Latham hit eight fours and two sixes over his 165-ball effort while Glenn Phillips reached three figures with 12-ball 25.
Afghanistan fielders delivered an inconsistent performance on day four, which allowed New Zealand to assert itself through several opportunities missed by Fazalhaq Farooqi who hit Will Young’s edge but Rahmat at wide slip couldn’t hold onto what would have been an easy catch.
Mohammad Shah and Ikram Alikhil’s early wickets proved fatal to Afghanistan against New Zealand, yet Azmatullah Omarzai and Rahmat Shah showed some resistance with a 61-run stand for the fifth wicket – only for the Kiwis to conclude their innings five balls later and boost their NRR standings.
Weather played havoc once again as play was abandoned without even one ball being bowled on Day Four in Greater Noida due to persistent rainfall. Play was scheduled to commence at 9am local time; however, relentless showers prevented any action taking place and thus forced officials to postpone play until Friday morning, when they will resume.
Afghanistan’s hopes of making an impressive run at the 2023 World Cup have taken a serious setback after losing two opening matches. They struggled against Ireland in their inaugural outing before England mercilessly dispatched them in their second match. Their loss against New Zealand will further harm their chances of reaching quarter-finals.
New Zealand had high hopes going into Afghanistan’s inaugural Test cricket match against New Zealand at Dunedin; their record of seven victories out of nine against them gave them an excellent advantage going in to it. Yet the visitors struggled throughout, performing one of their worst ever performances since earning full Test status in 2017. Only seven tests have ever been abandoned without even one ball having been bowled; 1998 being one such instance. Weather is expected to improve over the remaining three days of this Test; post Thursday play, it will be monitored closely.
Afghanistan 159 (Rahmat Shah 55) vs New Zealand 165 (Finn Allen 41)
New Zealand, home to four million people and known for rugby as their primary sport, is also widely respected internationally in cricket – taking home multiple world titles and making headlines along the way. They were the first team ever to win an Test series in India as well as three back-to-back ODI series on home soil at this format format. New Zealand are also well known for reaching major tournament finals such as World Cup – with fans commonly referencing them as Black Caps (Caps are their nickname)
Brendon McCullum currently leads New Zealand across Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket formats as its captain. A versatile all-rounder who can play anywhere in the order, McCullum has amassed over 32,000 runs across all formats he has competed in – making history by scoring three ODI hundreds consecutively while holding onto his single innings record for most runs scored by any individual player in an ODI innings.
The Black Caps are known for their competitive spirit and have produced great players over time such as Sir Richard Hadlee, Martin Crowe, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Kane Williamson and Corey Anderson. Though late to establish a fully professional system, their lateness allowed them to develop teams with an attitude free from fear while producing players capable of playing any surface with equal effectiveness.
New Zealand are proud of their success across all formats of cricket; but none can rival their triumph at the inaugural World Test Championship in 2000, which elevated their profile and remains prominent today.
In the final, New Zealand faced Pakistan, who had managed to knock them out of the previous World Cup at this stage. But New Zealand put on an outstanding run-chase performance to overcome Pakistan and win their match – they have since advanced to three successive semi-finals of ICC World Cup tournaments since.
Although they have experienced great success, the Black Caps remain a young squad and will continue to mature over time. To remain at the top of world cricket for an extended period, they must produce an appropriate blend of experience and youth; to do this, Ish Sodhi, Neil Wagner and Lockie Ferguson need to step up as leaders within their squad if they are going to remain consistent winners in future; currently New Zealand are in transition period trying to achieve that balance within their squad.
Read Also : Afghanistan National Cricket Team vs Bangladesh National Cricket Team Match Scorecard