Afghanistan’s win over New Zealand one of our greatest: Rashid

Guyana,UPDATED: Jun 8, 2024 18:18 IST

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan heaped praise on his side's performance in their thumping win over New Zealand on June 8 in the 2024 T20 World Cup, while hailing it as one of their greatest wins in T20I cricket. On top of Rahmanullah Gurbaz''s 80 off 56 balls knock and brilliant bowling stints from captain Rashid and Fazalhaq Farooqi, Afghanistan beat New Zealand by a massive 85 runs on a sluggish pitch at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.

The victory has now pushed Afghanistan to the second spot in Group C of the T20 World Cup, which will now set them up as a challenging opponent for the rest of the sides. Rashid's 4/17 spell and Farooqi's 4/17 in just 3.2 overs played a crucial role in bundling New Zealand for just 75 runs, which is also the fourth-lowest total in T20I cricket for the Black Caps. The all-round brilliance of Afghanistan scripted the second big upset of the T20 World Cup after Pakistan were stunned by co-hosts USA via a super over on June 6 in Dallas. Afghanistan have now secured back-to-back wins at the very start of their T20 World Cup campaign, after defeating Uganda by a massive 125 runs on June 4.

NZ vs AFG, T20 World Cup: Highlights | Scorecard

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Rashid reflected on his side's overall performance and opined on their mindset for the upcoming games.

"Definitely I think it's one of the greatest victories for us, especially in T20. You know we haven't had those victories in T20 World Cups. We had in ODI, but in T20 I feel like this was one of the best the performances by the guys, and it's not just about a single guy you know winning the game it's a great team effort the way Gurbaz and Ibrahim started the innings," Rashid said

"Now, you know, we need to beat the teams in our own skills rather than think about the opposition much and that's the only thing I have been telling the guys, like just make sure we look into our skills. How good we are focusing on that - doesn't matter whoever we play the opposition, it's more about how good you are, how good you're going to play and what type of energy you come with into the ground and that for me is very important," Rashid added.

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Afghanistan next face Papua New Guniea on June 14, where they will be hoping to keep their winning momentum in grip and walk into an even better points situation.