Seifert and Phillips conquer Afghanistan spin to script convincing New Zealand win

New Zealand may have felt a sense of déjà vu after Gulbadin Naib's half-century and Mujeeb Ur Rahman's double-strike in their opening game of the 2026 T20 World Cup in Chennai. But Tim Seifert's own half-century and a punchy knock from Glenn Phillips offset the early damage caused by Afghanistan and set New Zealand on the path to victory in the group of death, which also includes fellow title-contenders South Africa.

After Afghanistan opted to bat in a day game, they posted 182 for 6, on the back of Naib's 35-ball 63, which looked like an above-par total on a challenging Chepauk surface, which offered substantial bounce, especially in the early exchanges, and some grip to the slower bowlers.

That total looked a whole lot bigger once Mujeeb blasted out Finn Allen and Rachin Ravindra in the second over of the chase off back-to-back balls.

Phillips, however, kept out the hat-trick ball and combined aggressively with Seifert to loosen Afghanistan's grip on the game. They snatched it from Afghanistan's hands when they cracked Rashid Khan for 14 in his first over. Rashid - and Afghanistan - never really recovered from that as New Zealand wrapped up the chase with five wickets and 13 balls to spare.

The first five overs were cagey. While Matt Henry and Jacob Duffy banged the ball away on hard lengths, Rahmanullah Gurbaz tried to manufacture scoring opportunities. He shuffled across the stumps and scooped Duffy for six in the fourth over.

Afghanistan were fairly well-placed at 35 for 0 in five overs. Lockie Ferguson, whose return to play is being managed by the team management, struck twice in his first over and showed his range.

He started with a hard-length delivery outside off, which Ibrahim Zadran sliced to point. Ferguson closed out the over with a 122kph legcutter, which fizzed back in off the pitch and had Gurbaz dragging on for 27 off 22 balls.

Ferguson also cranked it up to speeds north of 140kph, showing everyone that he could be New Zealand's point-of-difference bowler in this World Cup in the injury-enforced absence of Adam Milne.

Naib and Sediquallah Atal came together when Afghanistan were 44 for 2 in six overs. They carried Afghanistan to 123 for 2 in the 15th over until the pair was separated by Duffy.

Naib, batting at No.3, for the first time in a T20I since the 2024 T20 World Cup, crashed his career-best score. He had a Chepauk crowd of over 21,000 cheering for him when he unleashed his signature bicep-flexing celebration after bringing up a 29-ball fifty.

Naib was on 18 off 16 balls at one point, but a swat over long-on off Phillips' part-time offspin got him going. While Mitchell Santner was accurate, the change bowlers couldn't sustain the pressure created by the frontline bowlers. Jimmy Neesham, playing his first international game for New Zealand, since November 2025, conceded 33 runs in his three overs.

Though Duffy snagged Atal with a slower bouncer and Rachin Ravindra drew a mis-hit from Naib in the 18th over, cameos from Darwish Rasooli and Azmatullah Omarzai took Afghanistan past 180.

Mujeeb, picked ahead of left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad who has also had success at Chepauk with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL, set to work by rattling the stumps of Allen with a 100kph skidder. Next ball, he got one to angle in from around the wicket and swing away to brush Ravindra's off stump. New Zealand were reduced to 14 for 2 in the second over.

Despite the double-blow, Seifert stayed true to his attacking style and claimed 31 of the 52 runs New Zealand scored in the powerplay. He was onto anything that was remotely full and whacked left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi for 24 off 11 balls.

Rashid then came into the attack after the powerplay, and it was Phillips who threw the first punch. When Rashid pushed one through on the slot, Phillips pumped the legspinner for six and next ball he went right back to swat him away to the midwicket boundary.

When Rashid returned for his second over, he castled him for 42, but by then New Zealand had slashed 88 runs off their target. Seifert then went onto raise his half-century off 38 balls with a six. Though Nabi stopped Seifert innings at 65 off 42 balls, captain Santner and his close friend Daryl Mitchell got the job done for New Zealand.