Chennai: On the second day (8 February) of T20 World Cup 2026, an exciting match was played between New Zealand and Afghanistan at Chepauk Stadium. Batting first, Afghanistan scored 182 runs for 6 wickets in 20 overs, but New Zealand easily achieved this target by losing 5 wickets in 17.5 overs. This defeat was extremely disappointing for Afghanistan, as it was the first time in T20 International that their team lost the match despite scoring 180+.

Rashid Khan’s strict stance

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan looked very angry and disappointed in the post-match presentation after the match. He placed the blame squarely on his bowling unit for the defeat, saying: “We didn’t want it to happen at all, but it’s a defeat we have to learn a lot from – especially in the bowling department. We put up a good total on the scoreboard, but we gave them too many opportunities to score too many runs in the middle overs. That’s an area where we need to improve immediately.”

Rashid further said, “Mujeeb bowled very well in the beginning and the batsmen also gave a good start. But after the powerplay, we were not able to bowl the ball on the right length and in the right area. We had both Plan A and Plan B, but we could not execute them. If we had bowled on the stumps and on a better length, it would have been very difficult for the Kiwi batsmen to score runs.”

New Zealand’s great chase

Chasing the target of 183 runs, New Zealand completed the work in just 17.5 overs. Tim Seifert led the team to victory by playing a stormy innings of 65 runs in 42 balls. Taking advantage of the poor length and line of the Afghan bowlers, the Kiwi batsmen continuously scored boundaries.

Rashid Khan said at the end of the match, “Everyone tried to give their best, but we have to learn from these mistakes. We will not repeat them in the next match.”

This defeat has become a big lesson for Afghanistan. Not being able to defend a score of 180+ was a new experience for their team, and captain Rashid Khan’s open anger shows that the team is not taking this defeat lightly.