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New Zealand pulled off a steep chase against Afghanistan’s spin-heavy attack to begin their Twenty20 World Cup campaign with a five-wicket victory in a group D ‌match in Chennai Sunday. In the 2024 edition of the ‌tournament it was a ‍loss to Afghanistan that put New Zealand on the path to an early exit, but Mitchell Santner and his team did not let history repeat itself. Gulbadin Naib’s rapid 63 provided ‍the bedrock of Afghanistan’s strong 182-6 following skipper Rashid Khan’s decision to bat first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Tim Seifert (65) and Glenn Phillips (42) helped New Zealand overcome a top-order wobble and chase down the target with 13 balls to spare. “It’s always nice to start the tournament with a few runs, but the main ‌thing is we got the win,” player of the match Seifert said. “There were a couple of early wickets, so it’s nice to get the job ‍done.” Earlier, Afghanistan began briskly but Lockie Ferguson’s double ‌strike in the final powerplay over reduced them to 44-2. Number three batter Naib took his time to find his feet before racing to a 29-ball fifty as he and Sediqullah Atal (29) rebuilt the Afghan innings. Afghanistan then milked 110 runs in the final 10 overs of the innings giving their spin-heavy attack a strong total to defend on a surface that aided their craft. When New Zealand began their chase, wily off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman was pressed into service in the second over, immediately ​dismissing opener Finn Allen ‌and next man in Rachin Ravindra – both bowled – in successive deliveries to stun the Kiwis. Seifert and Phillips then fought fire ‍with fire in a 74-run partnership off 47 balls that put the pressure back on Afghanistan.Rashid removed Phillips but dropped a return catch from Seifert at a crucial juncture in the match. The batter went on to hit Mohammed Nabi for back-to-back sixes followed by a four before ​falling to the off-spinner. Mark Chapman fell for 28 but Daryl Mitchell (25) and Santner (17) batted calmly to guide New Zealand to victory. Rashid was not happy with how Afghanistan bowled in the match. “I feel like we have not landed the ball in the right areas consistently,” the all-rounder said. “It allowed them to score so many runs in the middle overs. If we could have bowled into the stumps and in the good length, it would have been very hard to score.” BRIEF SCORESNew Zealand 183 for 5 (Seifert 65, Phillips 42, Mitchell 25*, Mujeeb 2-31) beat Afghanistan182 for 6 (Naib 63, Ferguson 2-40) by five wickets 

White ball captain Mitchell Santner and seamers Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry have all been declared fit for New Zealand's upcoming Twenty20 series against India, their final ‌preparation for next year's World Cup.Santner, who missed ‌the recent Test series ‍against West Indies with a groin strain, will skip the three one-day internationals ⁠in India in early January ⁠as he continues his recovery.The spinner will be back to lead ‍the side in five T20s later that month, ahead of the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.Henry missed the latter part of the West Indies series with a calf injury and will also skip the ODI series as part of his ‌managed return.Jamieson was rested for the West Indies Test series but returns to a pace unit missing Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne, who ‍are both playing T20 franchise ⁠league cricket ‌and will join the squad towards the end of the tour.Seamers Jacob Duffy and Zak Foulkes made impressive starts to their international careers this year and will both be on the plane to India, but Will O'Rourke, who has a back issue, and Blair Tickner, who dislocated his shoulder, were unavailable.Devon Conway has decided to cut short his spell in the SA20 league in South Africa to play both series and is the only wicketkeeper-batsman ​named in the T20 squad.New ‌Zealand, who finished runners-up in the 2021 T20 World Cup, face South Africa, Afghanistan, ⁠Canada and the United ‍Arab Emirates in the group stage of next year's tournament. "Playing in the sub-continent is obviously very different to what we're used to in New Zealand," said coach Rob Walter. "Any opportunity we can get to expose our guys to those conditions can only be ​a good thing, especially prior to a T20 World Cup in the subcontinent." T20 squad: Mitchell Santner (captain), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Bevon Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Ish SodhiODI squad: Michael Bracewell (captain), Adi Ashok, Kristian Clarke, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway, Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay, Kyle Jamieson, Nick ⁠Kelly, Jayden Lennox, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rae, Will Young 

A brilliant bowling performance secured the West Indies an unlikely seven-run victory in the first T20 against New Zealand on Wednesday, despite a stunning solo effort from Mitchell Santner.The West Indies, who landed in New Zealand only two days ago, struggled on the Eden Park drop-in wicket that offered some seam and turn to the home bowlers, making 164-6 from their 20 overs.The visitors then delivered a precise bowling performance to restrict the Black Caps, who needed a brilliant 28-ball 55 from captain Santner to keep the game interesting.Santner won the toss and elected to field at an initially sun-filled Eden Park.The Black Caps struck twice in the powerplay, Brandon King and Alick Athanaze falling to Jacob Duffy and Kyle Jamieson respectively to leave West Indies 32-2 after six overs.Captain Shai Hope looked to anchor the innings for the visitors, cautiously approaching his opening overs before ramping up the risk as he attacked the straight boundaries.The West Indies were 66-3 halfway through their innings, but then plundered 34 runs in the next three overs as Hope brought up a 38-ball 50.He fell from the very next ball, a Zak Foulkes delivery staying low and wiping out the leg stump as Hope tried to hoist it over the leg side.Rovman Powell provided much-needed power for the West Indies, clubbing two sixes as he brought up a 23-ball 33, but his side meandered towards what appeared an under-par score.But then it was all West Indies.Tim Robinson opened the batting for New Zealand alongside Devon Conway, who returned to the XI after Tim Seifert broke a finger while batting in domestic cricket on Sunday.Seamer Matthew Forde was superb for West Indies, taking 1-9 from three powerplay overs.New Zealand struggled to find the boundary and a double strike by Jayden Seales in the 13th over flipped the game in the visitors' favour, removing Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell in the space of three balls.Seales finished with 3-32 from his four overs.A late flurry from Santner gave New Zealand faint hope but, needing 20 from the final over, he fell just short.The two sides play again at Eden Park on Thursday in the second game of the five-match series.BRIEF SCORES:West Indies 164 for 6 (Hope 53, Powell 33, Duffy 2-19) beat New Zealand 157 for 9 (Santner 55*, Chase 3-26, Seales 3-32) by seven runs