New Zealand secured a five-wicket win over Afghanistan in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Group D clash at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Afghanistan set a competitive target of 182/6 in their 20 overs, with Gulbadin Naib scoring 63. New Zealand chased it down, finishing on 183/5 in 17.5 overs, with crucial innings from Tim Seifert (65) and Glenn Phillips (42).
Seifert’s half-century and a strong partnership with Phillips steadied New Zealand after early setbacks. Contributions from Mark Chapman and Daryl Mitchell ensured the Kiwis crossed the line with 13 balls to spare, marking a strong start to their tournament campaign.
The victory not only gave New Zealand two valuable points in a tough Group D — also featuring South Africa, Canada and UAE — but also demonstrated their ability to chase big totals, particularly against a quality spin attack on a testing Chennai pitch.
Kiwi skipper Mitchell Santner said, “It was a good day. We knew coming in that Afghanistan are a threat and they showed that today. We knew it was a massive game for us today. Started the tournament off in the right spot. It was a pretty good performance. Pretty good wicket, but Afghanistan challenged us a lot throughout this game and as we thought they would. I think that’s (assessing conditions) a massive part. It was a little bit sticky to start, I guess with the 11 o’clock start, and I think, we’re playing at 3PM, 7PM, different grounds… I think that’s going to be a massive thing for us and probably any team throughout the competition, to, get a read on surface and conditions and assess what is the most effective ball.’
(Was there any pressure with those early wickets) Yeah (chuckles). The powerplay is such an important part of this game, whether it’s with ball or bat, he said.
‘And Mujeeb’s tricks in the powerplay, it’s always going to be a challenge. And he bowled extremely well then. But I think it was a flat wicket in the end, which was nice. Some nice partnerships throughout. Most teams are trying to stack the batting. Most teams have a batter at eight, which is nice to have. (Any areas to improve?) I think we could just be a little bit sharper.’
‘Again, I think we held our lengths for a long time, which is probably good on that wicket. 3 o’clock game, it might look different. It might just be flat to start. So, the cutters were holding a little bit. And I guess with the bat, I mean, it’s those little partnerships that get you up to a big score. They ended up getting 180, which I thought was probably par on that wicket. It was a good chase in the end.”