Live Updates

  • 1:11 AM IST

    That’s that from all of us here! We hope you enjoyed our coverage. Until tomorrow, it’s goodnight!

  • 1:11 AM IST

    Kane Williamson (4/4): “We have a couple of days off now, and then we have India after that so we need to adapt to new venues, which is the nature of tournament sport, but the guys will be looking forward to it.”

  • 1:10 AM IST

    Kane Williamson (3/4): “We have chased three games in a row and we are trying to chase some of the lower targets on surfaces that, if you’re put under pressure, you can pick up wickets. It is important to build the partnerships in those situations. Every game you play, you set out to win it, and it’s great to have three wins in a row to start with.”

  • 1:10 AM IST

    Kane Williamson (2/4): “Lockie doesn’t need a lot of encouragement to turn up the speed. He has been fantastic in the three games so far. The left and right-arm combination helps up top and Neesham hitting the wicket hard with the bounce, pace and the movement – the same with their opening bowlers. The fielding, I think, was great from us. The batting improved from the last match.”

  • 1:09 AM IST

    Here’s a very happy winning captain Kane Williamson (1/4): “It was an outstanding effort. There are some world-class players in the Afghan side. I have played with a number of them for a few years. They got off to a good start and it was important to build some pressure in the middle-overs, and the way the seamers came back in the middle-overs was fantastic – pace, bounce and a bit of movement did it for them.”

  • 1:08 AM IST

    Gulbadin Naib (3/3): “We missed out on saving some boundaries too and we were not great in the field, so we have a long way to go – the improvement at this high level of cricket will happen day by day.”

  • 1:08 AM IST

    Gulbadin Naib (2/3): “Our bowlers started well. The wickets did not support the fast bowlers, so we missed out on Rashid. I just tell the boys to keep calm, and show a little more composure in the middle.”

  • 1:07 AM IST

    Time for the captains now, first up the losing captain, Gulbadin Naib (1/3): “We started really well. Hazrat and Noor were great with the bat. We missed the length of the ball, some of us batsmen, and we threw our wickets away early. So credit to the Kiwi bowlers. We have to play out 50 overs, and it is important for us to stay at the wicket.”

  • 1:06 AM IST

    Some visuals from the match

  • 1:05 AM IST

    James Neesham (3/3): “I let a few external voices affect my bowling, and I went back to my forte today – hitting the deck hard, and not trying to swing the ball too much.”

  • 1:05 AM IST

    James Neesham (2/3): “Our home conditions are lower and slower, but the bouncy conditions suited me personally to be honest.”

  • 1:05 AM IST

    James Neesham is the Man of the Match for his maiden five-wicket haul. (1/3): “Pretty pleased with my performance today. Afghanistan put us under pressure very early with the bat, but we knew we had the ability to dent them even after the start they got. The chase was clinical, obviously.”

  • 12:50 AM IST

    IT’S ALL OVER! NZ have registered a crushing 7-wicket victory over AFG (Kane Williamson 79, Ross Taylor 48; Aftab Alam 3/45) and complete a hat-trick of wins

  • 12:35 AM IST

    New Zealand are inching towards victory in Taunton, they need another 28 runs, Williamson 59, Tom Latham 7

  • 12:23 AM IST

    WICKET! Aftab Alam comes back into the attack and strikes immediately with the wicket of Ross Taylor (48) who missed that low full toss, New Zealand 130/3, need 43 runs to win.

  • 12:19 AM IST
    FIFTY! Kane Williamson brings up a fine half-century, his 38th in ODIs, New Zealand are cruising to victory in Taunton! Need 48 runs to win
  • 12:12 AM IST

    Afghanistan vs New Zealand live score: New Zealand 109/2 in 23.5 overs (Kane Williamson 43, Ross Taylor 35). NZ need 64 runs to win.

  • 11:57 PM IST

    Meanwhile, Aditya gives us a feel of the atmosphere at Taunton

  • 11:55 PM IST

    Kane Williamson has decided to up the ante now, charges down the wicket and smashes this one off Gulbadin Naib for a boundary, nz 87/2 in 18.4 overs, need 86 to win.

  • 11:46 PM IST

    AFG vs NZ live score: New Zealand 73/2 in 16.3 overs (Kane Williamson 25, Ross Taylor 25) TARGET: 173

  • 11:46 PM IST

    It’s time for drinks! New Zealand are firmly on top despite the early departure of their openers.

  • 11:40 PM IST

    A one of a kind resident at Taunton

  • 11:38 PM IST
    15 overs gone, New Zealand 67/2 (Kane Williamson 24, Ross Taylor 16) TARGET: 173.
  • 11:19 PM IST

    End of the first Powerplay, New Zealand 52/2 in 10 overs (Williamson 20, Taylor 6) TARGET: 173.

  • 11:17 PM IST

    Afghanistan vs New Zealand live score: New Zealand 52/2 in 9.4 overs (Kane Williamson 20, Ross Taylor 6) TARGET: 173

  • 11:10 PM IST
    It’s official! Rashid Khan will take no further part in the game today. He has been pulled out as a precaution after being hit on his head while batting.
  • 11:08 PM IST

    WICKET! Aftab Alam strikes again, Colin Munro throws it away, he departs for 22, New Zealand 41/2.

  • 10:54 PM IST
    5 overs gone, New Zealand 28/1 (Munro 19, Williamson 6) TARGET: 173
  • 10:43 PM IST

    Afghanistan vs New Zealand live score: New Zealand 14/1 in 2 overs (Colin Munro 9, Kane Williamson 4) TARGET: 173

  • 10:37 PM IST

    Update on Rashid Khan, who suffered a blow to his head: “Rashid Khan has failed his first concussion test and will not take the field – for now. He’s set to take another test in 45 minutes, and may take the field after that.”

Kane Williamson, New Zealand cricket team, Afghanistan vs New Zealand 2019 icc world cup

Hello and welcome to our live coverage from the Match 13 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between New Zealand Afghanistan. While the 2015 finalists New Zealand have won both their matches, albeit in contrasting fashion, Afghanistan have lost theirs but have shown fight.

New Zealand crushed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in their opening match before scraping past Bangladesh in their next contest that would have served as a wake-up call. On the other hand, Afghanistan lost to defending champions Australia before giving Sri Lanka a mighty scare having bowled them out for a low total in a rain-curtailed contest.

However, Afghanistan are without their opener and first-choice wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad to knee injury.