AFG vs PNG Highlights, T20 World Cup 2024: Afghanistan beat Papua New Guinea by 7 wickets to enter Super Eights

Semo Kamea to Ibrahim Zadran, OUT! LBW! A huge adamant shout for LBW and the umpire gives it a thought but raises his finger eventually! Semo Kamea pitches it around the leg stump line, and tails into the pads, Ibrahim Zadran plays over the line and the ball sneaks past the inside edge and pings the pads. Ball Tracking shows that the ball has clearly pitched outside the leg stump which saves Ibrahim Zadran.

Who will bowl from the other end? It will be Semo Kamea who has been brought into the side for this game.

Alei Nao to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hurls it in on a good length and it shapes away from the right-hander, outside off, Rahmanullah Gurbaz is happy to let that one go.

Alei Nao to Ibrahim Zadran, FIVE LEG BYES! OH DEAR! PNG just cannot afford these silly errors. On the back of a length, on the stumps, Ibrahim Zadran gets it off the thigh pad towards backward point and sets off for a leg bye. The fielder picks up and has a shy at the striker's end but no backup leads the ball to the deep. The mid on fielder chases the ball and cuts it before the ropes and throws it to the keeper's end where the keeper also fails to collect it cleanly. The ball rolls behind the wickets and the batters cross for five leg byes.

Alei Nao to Ibrahim Zadran, Short of good length outside off, Ibrahim Zadran punches it on the up and the cover fielder stops it with a dive to his right.

Alei Nao to Ibrahim Zadran, Beaten! There's that movement outside off! On a length, moving away from the batter. Ibrahim Zadran tries to play the cover drive on the up but gets beaten on the outside edge.

Alei Nao to Ibrahim Zadran, WIDE! Sloppy and wayward! This time, Alei Nao bowls it on a length, but too wide outside the guideline on off, Ibrahim Zadran shoulders his arms at it.

Alei Nao to Ibrahim Zadran, WIDE! He will have to reload this one again! Sprays it down the leg side on a fuller length, Ibrahim Zadran misses to flick it away. Wide given.

Alei Nao to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, A bit closer to the body on the top of off, Rahmanullah Gurbaz slashes it off the toe end of the bat in front of the covers and gets off the mark with a single.

Alei Nao to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Little bit of an away movement from outside off on the back of a length, Rahmanullah Gurbaz watches it closely and lets it go.

We are back for Afghanistan's reply. The two umpires make their way out to the centre as do the two Afghan openers. Assad Vala leads his troops out to the middle soon after.  Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran will open the innings for Afghanistan. Alei Nao will start with the new ball for Papua New Guinea. Let's play...

... THE RUN CHASE ...

Right then, the Afghan bowlers have done their job, and it is up to the batters now to knock off the target of 96 runs and help Afghanistan book their place in the Super 8 stage. The Afghan openers, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, have done the heavy lifting so far, setting strong foundations for their team. Papua New Guinea will feel that if they remove the openers early, they can put pressure on the rest of the batting unit, which has not been tested yet.

Naveen-ul-Haq is in for a chat. He says it is an honour to play for the country and is delighted to achieve the milestone of 50 T20I wickets and says to achieve this feat in in the World Cup is very special. On being asked about the target, he says they can't say anything about it as it is a funny game, and is hopeful that the batters chase it down.

As many as 4 run-outs occurred in the Papua New Guinea innings in what was yet another disappointing batting display. However, PNG will take heart from the fact that they were able to get close to 100, considering that they were 50-7 at one point in time. They started off on the wrong foot as a lackadaisical piece of running resulted in the departure of their skipper, Assad Vala. It went from bad to worse and after losing 5 wickets in the Powerplay, PNG were always playing catch up from there. There was no respite for the Oceania side after the Powerplay but having that said, Kipling Doriga and Chad Soper did well to keep the Afghan spinners at bay for a fair bit. Just as a steady stand was starting to build, a mix-up resulted in the downfall of Soper. Kipling Doriga held one end up and batted sensibly with the lower order to tick along. His 38-run stand with Alei Nao, the second-highest partnership for PNG in this tournament gave them a bit of hope. However, after Doriga fell, they were unable to maximize the back end of the innings.

Not the most clinical bowling effort, but Afghanistan get the job done eventually! The Afghan bowlers were way off from their usual standards, conceding as many as 26 extras. They will need to address these lapses and tighten up their performance if they want to continue their strong run in the tournament. Afghanistan were gifted an early breakthrough in the form of a run out and after that, the Afghan pace duo took over. As he has done in the competition so far, Fazalhaq Farooqi made the new ball count, yet again, striking off successive deliveries in his second over. Naveen-ul-Haq struck twice as well in his opening spell to pile the misery on PNG early on. While Rashid Khan was not at his best, Afghanistan were able to keep the squeeze on through Noor Ahmad and were even helped by some ordinary running by the PNG batters. They faced stiff resistance first from Chad Soper and then from Kipling Doriga which resulted in the PNG innings lasting longer than Afghanistan would have hoped to.

Naveen-ul-Haq to John Kariko, OUT! RUN OUT! That's the fourth run out for PNG and they get bundled up just before the triple figures. Naveen-ul-Haq follows the batter who shuffles across the leg stump line, and bowls it on the back of a length, angling down the leg side. John Kariko swipes it across the line but only meets thin air and Rahmanullah Gurbaz collects the ball on a couple of bounces behind the wickets. John Kariko goes for a bye but Gurbaz removes his gloves and underarms a direct hit at the striker's end. The TV replay shows that Semo Kamea is short of the popping crease. OUT appears on the giant screen.

Naveen-ul-Haq to John Kariko, And again! A slower one on the leg stump line, John Kariko again tries to ramp it over the short fine but fails to get any connection.

Naveen-ul-Haq to John Kariko, Naveen-ul-Haq lands it on the leg stump line again, just closer to the stump on a fuller length. John Kariko moves way across the off stump and tries to scoop it over short fine but misses.

Naveen-ul-Haq to Semo Kamea, Sees the batter shuffling across the leg stump, Naveen-ul-Haq follows him and lands it outside the leg stump line, full in length. Semo Kamea gets an inside edge that runs down to deep fine and the batters cross for one.

Naveen-ul-Haq to Semo Kamea, Beaten! An off-cutter on the top of off, on a good length. Semo Kamea goes to poke at it and gets beaten on the outside edge.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to John Kariko, FOUR! Nicely placed! First boundary conceded by Fazalhaq Farooqi in this game. Pitches it on the back of a length, angling in on off, John Kariko moves leg side of the ball to open up the off side, and simply places the ball through the vacant backward point region for a boundary.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to John Kariko, Stretches his length a bit this time and lands it very full, on the middle, John Kariko clears his front leg and digs it out to mid off.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to John Kariko, Good length, angling on the middle, John Kariko blocks it off to the leg side.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Semo Kamea, Back of a length, outside off, Semo Kamea guides it towards deep third for one.

Semo Kamea is the last man in for Papua New Guinea.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Alei Nao, OUT! IN THE AIR AND TAKEN! Fazalhaq Farooqi gets his third and he is on a roll here. Pitches it short of a good length, and skids through quickly as well on the bodyline on off and middle. Alei Nao attempts to pull it but plays it way too closer and gets cramped up for room. Hence, the ball slices off the willow's bottom half, and spoons up in the air towards long on where Rashid Khan takes a good catch. PNG are 9 down now.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Alei Nao, Over the wicket, on a length, Alei Nao gets beaten by the pace off and the ball goes over the top of off.

Noor Ahmad to John Kariko, Googly on a length, John Kariko leaves it alone.

Noor Ahmad to John Kariko, WIDE! Good length, down the leg. John Kariko misses to clip it down. Wided.

John Kariko comes out to bat now.

Noor Ahmad to Kipling Doriga, OUT! LBW! Noor breaks a brewing partnership here and gets his first wicket. A gem of a delivery! Bowls a googly on a fuller length, pitches on the middle and off channel, Kipling Doriga is drawn forward and goes to play a defensive shot but the ball beats his outside edge as he plays inside the line and the ball pings on the front pad. A huge confident appeal for LBW and no hesitation from the umpire who raises his finger as it is plumb in front of the stumps.

Noor Ahmad to Kipling Doriga, Full and outside off, Kipling Doriga goes to defend it but gets beaten on the outside edge.

Noor Ahmad to Kipling Doriga, FOUR! These are important runs for PNG! Tossed up on off, Kipling Doriga walks down a couple of steps and spanks it over mid-wicket for a boundary.

Noor Ahmad to Alei Nao, DROPPED! Across the wickets on a fuller length, quicker on off, Alei Nao skips down the track and looks to swipe it across the line but gets a leading edge that flies towards backward point where Gulbadin Naib shells an easy one.

Noor Ahmad to Kipling Doriga, Provides some revs on the ball, and drops it outside off, on a length, Kipling Doriga rocks back and punches it towards deep point for one.

Rashid Khan to Alei Nao, Drags his length this time, outside off, Alei Nao mistimes the shot back to Rashid Khan.

Rashid Khan to Alei Nao, Googly again, turning in from middle on the pads, Alei Nao gets totally deceived by it, tries to hoick it over the leg side but gets a thud on the front thigh pad.

Rashid Khan to Kipling Doriga, Fuller in length, on the stumps, Kipling Doriga slogs it across towards the leg side for one.

Rashid Khan to Kipling Doriga, A googly on the pads, Kipling Doriga rocks back but the ball pings his back thigh pad.

Rashid Khan to Alei Nao, In the air...but safe! Floats it up, full and on the middle again, Alei Nao clears his front leg and mistimes it up in the air off the toe end, and the ball lands behind mid on for a single.

Rashid Khan to Kipling Doriga, Drops it full and on the middle, closer to the body, Kipling Doriga sits on the knee and sweeps it with no real timing towards deep backward square leg for a single.

Noor Ahmad to Kipling Doriga, Touch fuller and it is outside off, Kipling Doriga pats it in front of cover-point for a quick single.

Noor Ahmad to Alei Nao, Around the wicket, full and tossed up on middle and leg, Alei Nao drives it down the ground for one.

Is that out? Rahmanullah Gurbaz seems confident and the third umpire is called into action to check for stumping. The replays show that Alei Nao has his back leg grounded inside the crease.

Noor Ahmad to Alei Nao, A wrong'un that deceives the willow's edge, full and outside off, Alei Nao looks to slog it down the ground but misses. Rahmanullah Gurbaz collects it cleanly behind the wickets and flashes off the bails in the blink of an eye. The off-side replay shows that Alei Nao's feet is grounded when the stumps are broken. Not Out then.

Noor Ahmad to Alei Nao, Full and on the leg stump line, Alei Nao drives it back to the bowler.

Noor Ahmad to Alei Nao, Good length, outside off, Alei Nao looks for a cut shot and opts out eventually.

Noor Ahmad to Kipling Doriga, Full and on the middle and leg, Kipling Doriga strides out to play at it but gets it off the pads as the ball rolls towards square leg. The two batters sneak in a leg bye. The fielder at square leg hits bull's eye at the non-striker's end but Doriga is well inside as the replays confirm.

Noor Ahmad (2-0-4-0) is back.