Tim Siefert and Finn Allen - (Source: X.com)
On Sunday, February 8, New Zealand kickstarted their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign as they locked horns against Afghanistan at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai. It was a tough game for the Kiwis, but the Mitchell Santner-led side emerged victorious and registered a five-wicket win.
Afghanistan, batting first, put 182/6 on the board. In reply, New Zealand rode on Tim Siefert’s fifty and chased down the total in 17.5 overs despite an initial scare after they lost two wickets in the 2nd over.
Talking about Seifert, he became the hero of the match, but escaped a major injury after he collided with his opening partner, Finn Allen, in the field while attempting a catch.
Finn Allen nearly injures Tim Siefert vs Afghanistan
The incident occurred early on in the first innings when Matt Henry bowled a bouncer to Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The Afghanistan opener failed to read the ball and mistimed a shot that went straight up in the air. The ball was racing towards a boundary above the head of the keeper, but Seifert ran full speed to catch the ball.
Eventually, three players ran from different directions, and Finn Allen collided with Seifert, who then dropped the catch. If Allen hadn’t collided with his opening partner, then the right-handed keeper-batter would have definitely caught the ball.
Luckily, the two did not get hurt, and there was no injury scare. The bowler, too, laughed off the incident as it quickly turned into a meme.
Tim Seifert shines with gloves vs Afghanistan
With the bat, Tim Seifert scored a brilliant 65 (42), which featured seven fours and three sixes. Meanwhile, the right-handed batter also shone with the gloves as he took two important catches.
Seifert was brilliant with the gloves and saved several runs in the field with his athletic abilities. Further, he batted sensibly and read the situation perfectly. He respected the good balls and whacked bad ones to not put pressure on New Zealand.
New Zealand off to great start in group of Death
For the unversed, New Zealand are placed in Group D, which is also referred to as the group of death. Notably, the Kiwis have Afghanistan, South Africa, Canada, and UAE placed in this group.
Three quality top-ranked teams are in group D and New Zealand are off to a perfect start as Afghanistan now face the pressure to finish in top two. Talking about Blackcaps second match, they will face UAE on February 10 at the same venue in an afternoon match.
The Blackcaps will expect a similar knock from Tim Seifert, who brings the X-factor and aggressive intent at the top. At the time of writing this article, Seifert is the 2nd leading run-getter in the tournament only behind Suryakumar Yadav, who slammed a brilliant 84-run knock against USA, who too posed a threat to India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
