Sloppy fielding and Phillips-Latham power NZ to 288/6

Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips slammed respective half-centuries to help New Zealand pile a stiff 288/6 in 50 overs.

Latham scored 68(74) while Phillips smashed 71(80) as New Zealand before getting out against Naveen-ul-Haq in the same over.

Sloppy fielding also helped New Zealand up to a certain extent as Afghanistan missed multiple chances throughout the course of the innings.

Mark Chapman then chipped in with a late cameo, hammering 25 off 12 deliveries.

Earlier, Mujeeb Ur Rahman gave Afghanistan a good start after they won the toss and invited New Zealand to bat first in the World Cup encounter in Chennai on Wednesday.

He trapped Devon Conway LBW for 20(18), however, the fielding has been bit off colour.

Will Young and Rachin Ravindra were dropped early in the innings before Azmatullah Omarzai bagged two wickets in his first over to spark a mini-collapse.

Afghanistan fielded an unchanged playing XI while New Zealand have brought Young in place of Kane Williamson, who has been ruled out due to a fracture on left thumb.

After stunning defending champions England by 69 runs, Afghanistan are looking to make two wins in a row against New Zealand in a spin-friendly Chepauk.

New Zealand, on the other hand, arrived into the contest on the back of a dominating win over Bangladesh.

Source: Hindustan Times