New Zealand Starts World Cup with Loss Against Afghanistan, Captain's Words

New Zealand faced a setback in their very first match of the T20 World Cup. Against Afghanistan, the team couldn't perform up to their strengths in either batting or bowling. Reflecting on the loss, captain Kane Williamson said that they would quickly bounce back from this defeat.

Before this, New Zealand had never lost to Afghanistan in international T20s. Not only in T20s, but until this match, New Zealand had maintained an unbeaten record against Afghanistan in all formats. However, this time around, New Zealand suffered an unexpected loss against Afghanistan in the World Cup stage. Nevertheless, despite the loss, Williamson did not forget to credit Afghanistan.

At the end of the match, Williamson said, "Congratulations to Afghanistan. They outplayed us in every aspect. On such challenging wickets, they took wickets and batted superbly. We were not up to the mark from our side."

Next, on June 13, New Zealand will face the West Indies in their second match in Trinidad. Facing the formidable West Indies, it won't be easy for the Kiwis. Williamson wants to improve the team's performance to win that match.

In Williamson's words, "We need to bounce back quickly. We need to focus for the next challenge by coming together as a unit. The boys are determined, and while we worked hard in this match, it wasn't our best performance. We'll discuss the match, analyze it, and look ahead."

It's worth mentioning that on Saturday in Guyana, in the 'C' group match of the World Cup, New Zealand faced Afghanistan. Losing the toss, Afghanistan batted first and scored 159 runs for the loss of 6 wickets at the end of their allotted 20 overs. In response, New Zealand lost all wickets for 75 runs in 15.2 overs.