T20 World Cup 2024 NZ vs AFG: The New Zealand cricket team registered their second-lowest total in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup by scoring 75 against Afghanistan in Guyana. Kiwis 60 against Sri Lanka in the 2014 T20 World Cup was their lowest total in the tournament.
NZ Registered their Second Lowest Total in T20 World Cup History
New Zealand created this unwanted record in their first game of the 2024 edition played on June 7 against Afghanistan. Glenn Phillips’ 18 was the highest individual score for the New Zealand batters.
Fazalhaq Farooqi and captain Rashid Khan played a vital role in Afghanistan’s success by bagging 4 wickets each. Mohammad Nabi bagged a couple of wickets and played a handle role in the team’s success.
Speaking of the game, New Zealand opted to bowl first after winning the toss, where Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran opened the inning. The duo added 103 runs for the first wicket and made an impressive start for Afghanistan. Gurbaz secured his second half-century of the tournament during the process.
Though they made a century stand for their first wicket their net run rate was not up to the mark. Afghanistan crossed the 100 runs mark in the middle of the 14th over which is nearly 7 runs per over.
Afghan middle-order batters failed to make an impact with the bat and fell cheaply for New Zealand’s quality bowling attack.
While Gurbaz was expected to score the first century of the tournament, the right-hander lost his wicket in the final after scoring 80 runs from 56 balls. With a couple of dismissals in that over, Afghanistan managed to score just 3 runs which made them finish their inning with a score of 159.
With the half-century, Gurbaz becomes the leading run-scorer of the tournament with a tally of 156 runs. Still, Aaron Jones’ unbeaten 94 remains the highest individual score of the T20 World Cup 2024.
New Zealand made a struggling start in their chasing inning. Fazalhaq Farooqi dismissed Finn Allen in the very first delivery of the inning and shocked the NZ batters.
Following his dismissal, New Zealand batters struggled to face the aggressive Afghan bowling attack and started to fall cheaply. Without much contribution from the batters, New Zealand managed to score only 75 runs for 10 wickets.
After winning their first game by 125 runs, the Afghans won their second game by 84 runs and retained the top spot in the points table with a whopping run rate of +5.225.
Lowest Totals in T20 World Cup – Top 20
| Team | Score | Overs | RR | Inns | Opposition | Ground | Match Date |
| Netherlands | 39 | 10.3 | 3.71 | 1 | v Sri Lanka | Chattogram | 24 Mar 2014 |
| Netherlands | 44 | 10 | 4.4 | 1 | v Sri Lanka | Sharjah | 22 Oct 2021 |
| West Indies | 55 | 14.2 | 3.83 | 1 | v England | Dubai (DICS) | 23 Oct 2021 |
| Uganda | 58 | 16 | 3.62 | 2 | v Afghanistan | Providence | 3 Jun 2024 |
| New Zealand | 60 | 15.3 | 3.87 | 2 | v Sri Lanka | Chattogram | 31 Mar 2014 |
| Scotland | 60 | 10.2 | 5.8 | 2 | v Afghanistan | Sharjah | 25 Oct 2021 |
| Ireland | 68 | 16.4 | 4.08 | 2 | v West Indies | Providence | 30 Apr 2010 |
| Hong Kong | 69 | 17 | 4.05 | 2 | v Nepal | Chattogram | 16 Mar 2014 |
| Bangladesh | 70 | 15.4 | 4.46 | 2 | v New Zealand | Eden Gardens | 26 Mar 2016 |
| Afghanistan | 72 | 17.1 | 4.19 | 1 | v Bangladesh | Mirpur | 16 Mar 2014 |
| U.A.E. | 73 | 17.1 | 4.25 | 2 | v Sri Lanka | Geelong | 18 Oct 2022 |
| Kenya | 73 | 16.5 | 4.33 | 1 | v New Zealand | Durban | 12 Sep 2007 |
| Bangladesh | 73 | 15 | 4.86 | 1 | v Australia | Dubai (DICS) | 4 Nov 2021 |
| New Zealand | 75 | 15.2 | 4.89 | 2 | v Afghanistan | Providence | 7 Jun 2024 |
| Sri Lanka | 77 | 19.1 | 4.01 | 1 | v South Africa | New York | 3 Jun 2024 |
| P.N.G. | 77 | 19.1 | 4.01 | 1 | v Uganda | Providence | 5 Jun 2024 |
| India | 79 | 18.1 | 4.34 | 2 | v New Zealand | Nagpur | 15 Mar 2016 |
| Afghanistan | 80 | 17.2 | 4.61 | 2 | v England | Colombo (RPS) | 21 Sep 2012 |
| Afghanistan | 80 | 16 | 5 | 2 | v South Africa | Bridgetown | 5 May 2010 |
| England | 80 | 14.4 | 5.45 | 2 | v India | Colombo (RPS) | 23 Sep 2012 |
