Seifert and Phillips fire New Zealand past Afghanistan in T20 World Cup

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 on 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.

No 3 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.