New Zealand recorded their fourth consecutive win in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023, this time against Afghanistan on October 18 in Chennai. One of the heroes of the game in the field was Mitchell Santner, whose gravity-defying catch proved to be the highlight of the match.
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and chose to bowl first. Despite Will Young making 54 and Rachin Ravindra scoring 32 in the top order, New Zealand found themselves in some trouble at 110/4 in the 22nd over.
But then Glenn Phillips (71) and Tom Latham (68) added 144 runs for the fifth wicket to bring New Zealand back into the game. Mark Chapman then smashed 25* in 12 balls to take the Kiwis to a formidable total of 288/6 on the Chennai track.
For Afghanistan, Naveen Ul Haq and Azmatullah Omarzai picked two wickets each.
Afghanistan never looked like they were ever ahead in the chase as New Zealand bowlers kept a tight noose on their scoring rate. Rahmat Shah with 36, and Azmatullah Omarzai with 27 were the best scorers as they were folded up for 139 runs in 34.4 overs.
New Zealand won the match by 149 runs and went to the top of the table with 4 wins and 8 points.
During this match, Mitchell Santner stood out both with the ball and on the field. He picked 3/39, along with Lockie Ferguson, who took 3/19.
However, the highlight moment was in the 14th over when Ferguson bowled a short ball directed into the body of Afghan captain Shahidi. The batter couldn’t put any power into his pull shot and the ball ballooned near the square leg umpire.
Santner stationed at mid-on, pedaled quickly and dived to pluck the ball from mid-air one-handed, completing a stunning catch.
Check it out here:
