‘Dropping Latham twice cost us a little bit’, says Afghanistan head coach

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 19 (ANI): Following Afghanistan’s 149-run loss against New Zealand in the 16th match of the ODI World Cup 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott said that New Zealand had played well in the game.

While speaking at the post-match press conference, Jonathan Trott said that dropping Tom Latham’s catch twice had cost Afghanistan the win.

“I think that they played well, but they got themselves in, as we saw as soon as our batsmen got in a little bit, it became a little bit easier to bat on the track. But we couldn’t do that for long enough, unfortunately, when we batted today. And so, we also dropped two catches – I think we dropped Latham twice, which cost us a little bit, so yeah, not good,” Jonathan Trott said.

Trott added that the misfielding is not because of the pressure and also accepted that it is happening a bit too much recently in the ODI World Cup 2023.

“I would say that it’s not the pressure. I think it’s been happening a bit too much recently as well since I’ve been in charge. So, if you look at the statistics, unfortunately, the side is right at the bottom with regards to catching. So that needs to improve and I think it’s something we’ve worked really hard on in training we just need to do it in games now,” Jonathan Trott added.

“I think if we look at bowling first, I think sometimes we expect our spinners to rip through the opposition. I think there’s that expectation on them. And when the wicket’s not as responsive, perhaps, then they’re under a bit more pressure. I think it’s everybody’s responsibility to bowl with the spinners and create pressure on the other side, so it’s all about bowling in partnerships I think sometimes we’re just not bowling in partnerships correctly. We seem to get ourselves in real good positions at times like we did today but we just weren’t able to capitalize and you know keep up that sort of pressure or that momentum,” Trott added.

Coming to the match, New Zealand dominated the game from the very first momentum. In the first inning, Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips made a solid partnership to take the Kiwis at 288 runs. Latham scored 68 runs from 74 balls. On the other hand, Phillips played a 71-run knock from 80 balls.

Naveen-ul-Haq and Azmatullah Omarzai scalped two wickets each to lead the Afghani bowling attack.

In the second inning, the Kiwi bowling attack made no mistake in defending the target. Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson picked up three wickets each in their respective spells in the second inning.

No Afghanistan batsmen could touch the fifty-run mark in the second inning. Rahmat Shah played a 36-run knock and scored the highest runs among other Afghani batsmen in the match.

In the upcoming match, New Zealand will play against India on Sunday at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala.