Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips will unite in the mid-table to help New Zealand beat Afghanistan in Chennai, India.
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Published February 8, 2026
New Zealand opened the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup with a five-wicket victory as they overcame Afghanistan’s spin-heavy attack in a Group D match in the southern Indian city of Chennai on Sunday.
Losing to Afghanistan in 2024 put New Zealand on track for early elimination, but Mitchell Santner and his team ensured that history did not repeat itself.
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Gulbadin Naib’s quick 63 laid the foundation for Afghanistan’s impressive 182-6 after captain Rashid Khan batted first at the Chidambaram Stadium in Massachusetts.
Tim Seifert (65) and Glenn Phillips (42) helped New Zealand overcome some wobble in the top order and chase the target with 13 balls remaining.
“It’s always good to start the tournament with a few goals conceded, but the important thing is that we won,” said Seifert, the match’s man of the match.
“We had some early wickets so it was nice to get the job done.”
Earlier, Afghanistan got off to a strong start but fell to 44-2 on Lockie Ferguson’s double in the final power-play over.
Naib, the No. 3 batsman, helped rebuild Afghanistan’s innings along with Sediqullah Attar (29) and took time to recover before rushing to a 29-ball fifty.
Afghanistan then scored 110 runs in the last 10 overs of the innings, giving them a strong total with a spin-heavy attack that helped the attack.
As New Zealand began their chase, shrewd off-spinner Mujeeb-ur-Rahman was forced to serve in the second over and quickly dismissed opener Finn Allen and follower Rachin Ravindra (both bowled) with successive deliveries, surprising the Kiwis.
Seifert and Phillips then competed fire-and-fire in a 74-run partnership from 47 balls, putting Afghanistan under pressure.
Rashid removed Phillips but dropped Seifert’s return catch at a crucial moment in the game.
The batsman gave six consecutive hits to Mohamed Nabi, followed by four before falling to the off-spinner.
Mark Chapman suffered his 28th loss, but Darryl Mitchell (25) and Santner (17) batted calmly to lead New Zealand to victory.
Rashid was not satisfied with Afghanistan’s bowling in the match.
“I feel like we haven’t been able to land the ball consistently in the right areas,” said the all-rounder.
“That allowed them to score so many runs in the middle overs. If we had been able to bowl to the stumps and into good lengths, it would have been very difficult to score.”
