If it was in New Zealand’s hands, they would want the Champions Trophy to begin on Monday itself, that’s how good a form they are in, in the last 10 days or so. New Zealand beat hosts Pakistan twice and South Africa within a span of seven days to win the tri-series and now have begun their Champions Trophy campaign with a win, even though it was just a warm-up match. Glenn Phillips, Devon Conway, Matt Henry and skipper Mitchell Santner starred as New Zealand prevailed in a thriller, chasing down 306 runs with 13 balls to spare.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s century powered Afghanistan to a strong score in excess of 300 while the likes of Sediqullah Atal and skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi made important contributions. Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry and Santner shared two wickets apiece as Afghanistan managed to challenge New Zealand even though it seemed like a good wicket at the National Stadium in Karachi.
Still without Rachin Ravindra, New Zealand lost Will Young cheaply but Conway and Mark Chapman did well to take the Black Caps over the century mark. Conway retired out after a brilliant 66 and New Zealand lost Chapman in quick succession and had to rebuild. Fortunately for the Kiwis, every batter that came in kept going on and those cameos of 30s and 40s from Phillips, Santner, Henry and Daryl Mitchell at the end took the visitors home.
