JOIN USJames Neesham grabbed his maiden five-wicket haul before Kane Williamson played a captain's knock to guide New Zealand to a seven-wicket victory over Afghanistan here, their third straight victory in the World Cup.
Batting all-rounder Neesham (5/31), who produced a career-best effort, and fellow pacer Lockie Ferguson (4/37) ripped through the Afghanistan batting line-up to bowl them out for a below-par 172 here on Saturday.
Williamson then fired New Zealand to a resounding victory in 32.1 overs with an unbeaten 79 off 99 balls and was well supported by Ross Taylor, who made 48 off 52.
It was smooth sailing for New Zealand in the run chase after the early loss of openers Martin Guptill (0) and Colin Munro (22).
The Black Caps' task got easier as Afghanistan's premier spinner Rashid Khan did not come out to bowl after being hit on the head by a sharp Ferguson bouncer while batting. However, Rashid is expected to be fit for his team's next game.
Afghanistan, who have lost all their three games, next face South Africa on June 15.
"It was an outstanding effort. There are some world-class players in the Afghan side. I have played with a number of them for a few years," said Williamson.
"They got off to a good start and it was important to build some pressure in the middle-overs, and the way the seamers came back in the middle-overs was fantastic - pace, bounce and a bit of movement did it for them," he added.
Sent into bat, Afghanistan made a decent start with openers Hazratullah Zazai (34 off 28) and Noor Ali Zadran (31 off 38) putting on 66 runs between them. Hazratullah hit three fours in the first over bowled by Matthew Henry to show his intent.
But New Zealand hit back when Neesham induced a mistimed slog from Hazratullah with Colin Munro taking the catch on the boundary to end the opener's innings in the 11th over.
Afghanistan wickets then began to fall in a heap once the openers were separated and their batsmen failed to rotate strikes.
Hashmatullah Shahidi, who top-scored with 59 off 99 balls, played a lone hand as he did not get any support from his team-mates down the order. He was the last man out as Afghanistan's innings folded up in 41.1 overs.
As many as seven Afghanistan batsmen scored in single digits.