NZ vs AFG ICC World Cup 2023: Mitchell Santner Takes Catch Of Tournament Contender To Dismiss Afghanistan Captain - Watch

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NZ vs AFG ICC World Cup 2023: New Zealand's Mitchell Santner took one of the catch of the tournament to help dismiss Afghanistan's captain Hashmatullah Shahidi in match 16 the ongoing World Cup 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday (October 18).

Santner, who had already claimed a straightforward catch at covers earlier in the match to send opener Ibrahim Zadran back into the pavilion, nearly seven overs later took an absolute blinder as he ran backwards to pluck out the ball in the air to send Shahidi back into the hut.

In the final delivery of the 14th over bowled by Lockie Ferguson, Shahidi tried pull a well-directed short-ball from the speedster only to top edge it, and what followed after the ball went in the air, was simply spectacular.

Santner running backwards leapt off his feat, throwing his body to his left and plucked the ball out of thin air while still off the ground. This ended Shahidi's sluggish innings at 8 off 29 ball, and also put Afghanistan on the backfoot in the run chase.

Chasing a steep target of 289, Afghanistan lost the openers early and were reeling at 113/5 in 28.5 overs with Mohammad Nabi and Ikram Alikhil at the crease. Trent Boult claimed two wickets, while Ferguson, Matt Henry and Rachin Ravindra took a wicket each.

Later, Santner castled Nabi to complete a milestone of 100 ODI wickets, leaving Afghanistan in complete disarray at 125 for 6 in 30.4 overs. This took New Zealand closer to their fourth win on the trot in the ODI World Cup 2023.

Earlier, put into bat, New Zealand lost opener Devon Conway (20) in the seventh over, but Ravindra and Will Young (54) steadied the ship before a mini mid-innings slump as they lost three quick wickets.

However, skipper Tom Latham (68) and Glenn Phillips (71) shared a 144-run stand to help recover from 110/4 in 21.4 overs to take New Zealand past 200 before Mark Chapman's unbeaten cameo of 25 from 12 balls powered them to 288 for 6 in 50 overs.