New Zealand vs Afghanistan, 31st Match, Pool A at Napier, , Mar 08 2015 - Ball by Ball Commentary

6.15pm Alrighty then. Hope you've enjoyed our coverage. If you're looking to pop over to our commentary from the Australia-Sri Lanka game, you just need to click here. I'm off for the day, so ta ta until next time.

Mangesh: "Afghans are the first in this WC to restrict the NZ run rate under 6, which was not possible even for the 'big 3' in the group. Hats off to their fighting spirit! Well played!"

Phil: "Black Caps issue is they've only batted for 150 overs in 5 games. Really not a good practice for the tougher matches still to come."

Manikandan KP: "I like this score card 57, 42, 33, 24, 19, 7 ... Complete this series" I have no idea. Anyone else?

Brendon McCullum: "The way we bowled early on, 60 for 6, credit to Afghanistan for posting a total that was a little bit tricky for us. We got the ends wrong, and obviously it's great when you have a guy like Dan who can jump in and get a wicket and help the guys switch ends. Fielding could go up a gear, but I thought overall a good performance. We can improve, but overall not a bad chase, not a bad win for us. Special cricketer, what he's achieved in all three forms of the game for close to two decades. It's great to have him back, he's a very special member of our team and will continue to be so over the next few games. Wouldn't swap Boult and Southee for anyone [Twitter question - would you swap them for Wasim Akram/Aquib Javed who won the 92 World Cup]."

Mohammad Nabi: Good toss to win but we needed to score 280. The way New Zealand bowled, especially Vettori, they bowled very well. The top five batsmen, entire tournament, haven't done well. Hopefully we'll try in the next game. Shenwari has played well in the whole tournament, and a good start for Najibullah. We tried our best to take the match as long as possible."

Dan Vettori is the man of the match. "[The pitch was] probably a touch slower today, and once we got a good start from the fast bowlers I could back it up. A little bit more worn than usual, usually it's more pristine. Pretty used to bowling early on, you play so much T20 cricket, and sometimes the newer ball skids on. It's a lot of fun, playing the World Cup at home, an experience none of us will forget. So far so good.

6.03pm New Zealand have made it five out of five. Afghanistan were never going to win this from 59 for 6, but they kept fighting, with bat and ball, and never made it easy for their opponents. Slightly unconvincing display from New Zealand's batsmen, I'm not sure they've all really hit form yet, but Guptill and Taylor will be pleased they spent a good amount of time at the wicket.

Batting powerplay. Dawlat Zadran comes on.

around the wicket to Anderson

Dave: "Taylor always looks to me like he has just been woken up from his nap. Even when in form his starts are a bit lazy. Compare him to Elliott who is busy right from the get go." -- Could have been a bit busier running that single :)

Here's Corey Anderson.

Animesh: "So he's the Kiwi Rohit Sharma. Or Rohit is the Indian Ross Taylor. Neither is a very happy thought though." -- No, no. Rohit Sharma comes in, looks like the same lazily elegant batsman all the time, and maybe his scores are a little inconsistent. Taylor's scores are fairly consistent, but sometimes he looks like an amazingly gifted batsman and sometimes he scratches around horribly