New Zealand recorded their fifth successive win in the ongoing Cricket World Cup as they overcame a fighting Afghanistan team in their Pool A tie by six wickets on Sunday at Napier.
Opting to bat first, Afghanistan's top-order batsmen wilted under pressure against a fully-charged New Zealand bowling attack and were eventually bundled out for 186 runs in 48th over.
Veteran spinner Daniel Vettori crossed the 300 wicket milestone as he led from the front to make four crucial scalps, including four maiden overs to restrict World Cup minnows to a paltry total.
While Trent Boult (3) and Corey Anderson (2) took five wickets between them, Adam Milne claimed one wicket to support the bowling unit substantially.
Following the batting collapse, Afghanistan were reeling at 59-6 in the 20th over but Samiullah Shenwari (54) found an able ally in Najibullah Zadran (56) as the duo constructed an 86-run partnership for the seventh wicket.
Nawroz Mangal added 27 runs to the total before he was bowled out by Man-of-the-Match Vettori.
Chasing a modest target of 186, New Zealand made a blistering start as skipper Brendon McCullum smacked a brisk 42 runs off just 19 balls before being clean bowled by Mohammad Nabi.
Martin Guptill (57) and Kane Williamson (33) steadily consolidated the innings as the duo built a 58-run partnership for the second wicket.
While Guptill was run out by Mangal, Williamson was caught by Shenwari off Shapoor Zadran's delivery.
Subsequently, Ross Taylor (24) and all-rounder Anderson (7) remained unbeaten as they guided home to the victory with 83 balls remaining after Grant Elliot was dismissed run out for 19 runs.
