Chennai, February 8 Seasoned Gulbadin Naib scored a fluent fifty, but Afghanistan settled for a slightly below-par 182 for six against New Zealand in their T20 World Cup Group D match here on Sunday.
Choosing to bat first, the Afghans found the going anything but smooth against a disciplined set of Kiwi bowlers.
Naib (63, 35 balls) and Sediqullah Atal (29, 24b) added 79 runs off 51 balls for the third wicket, but the general feeling was that of a struggle on a pitch that had a hint of slowness.
This was reflected in Afghanistan's scoring pattern — steady rather than flashy: 44/2 in the Power Play, 77/2 after 10 overs, and 130/3 after 15 overs.
The last five overs produced another 52 runs, but ideally, the Afghans would have wanted a few more runs on the board.
Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz (27, 22b) looked in good form, and even played a couple of typical scoops, but a slower delivery from pacer Lockie Ferguson disturbed his concentration in the sixth over.
In the same over, Ferguson, who used leg-cutters to good effect in this innings, dismissed opener Ibrahim Zadran as Afghanistan found it difficult to get off to a good start.
Naib, who reached his fifty in 29 balls, played a forceful innings, hitting pacer Jacob Duffy for two sixes and a four as Afghanistan seemed to have found some momentum in the middle overs.
Atal played a good supporting role, but could not maintain the pace on his own, and his innings was cut short by Duffy.
However, his dismissal proved to be a blessing in disguise as Naib and Darwish Rasooli (20, 13b) added 33 runs in 17 balls as Afghanistan crossed the 150-run mark.
However, Naib fell to the part-time spin of Rachin Ravindra in the 18th over, as Afghanistan could not achieve the desired late-over flourish. Azmatullah Omarzai hit a couple of sixes to push his side past the 180-run mark.