New Zealand romp to victory over Afghanistan
New Zealand handed giant-killing Afghanistan a brutal reality check on Wednesday when they exploited a disastrous fielding performance to romp to a 149-run victory at the Cricket World Cup. Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham and Will Young all scored half centuries and benefitted from dropped catches to score a fighting 288-6. The Black Caps then ran through Afghanistan, who had shocked defending champions England last time out, for just 139 in 34.4 overs. "I thought 250 was par. We are in an environment where we keep working for each other and play as a team," said man of the match Phillips who made 71. The victory gives New Zealand, runners-up at the last two World Cups, a fourth victory in as many games and comfortably on course for the semi-finals. Fast bowler Lockie Ferguson took 3-19, spinner Mitchell Santner claimed 3-39 while veteran seamer Trent Boult chipped in with 2-18 as New Zealand turned the screw. Afghanistan have one win and three defeats from their four games. "We are very disappointed because at this level you have to take those kinds of catches. End of the day those catches hurt us," admitted captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, one of the worst culprits. They had hoped Rahmanullah Gurbaz could repeat his fireworks against England when he made 80. However, on Wednesday, the opener was cleaned up by Matt Henry in the sixth over for just 11. (AFP)