New Zealand‘s campaign in the T20 World Cup 2024 came to an unfortunate end as they were officially knocked out of the tournament.

The Blackcaps, initially considered strong contenders to advance to the Super 8 stage, faced a series of disappointing performances that ultimately led to their early exit from the event.

Setbacks from the start

New Zealand’s journey in the global showpiece event was fraught with setbacks right from the start.

They suffered a significant blow in their opening match against Afghanistanwhere their batting lineup collapsed, managing only 75 runs in response to a target of 160. This defeat set a challenging precedent for their subsequent matches and then co-host West Indies handed them the defeat by the 13 runs margin in a close encounter.

Slim hopes dashed

After two matches, Kane Williamson-led Black Caps’ exit from the tournament was almost confirmed.

Despite keeping slimmer hopes for Super 8 qualification alive, those hopes were dashed when Papua New Guinea‘s faced defeat Afghanistan. Consequently, New Zealand had to conclude their campaign in the group stage itself, failing for the first time in recent history to progress beyond this phase.

New Zealand’s early exit from T20 World Cup 2024

New Zealand, having reached the semifinals and finals in the last two editions of the tournament, had high expectations going into this year’s event.

This time, however, their journey won’t extend beyond the group stage, despite having two games left against Uganda and PNG. Even if they manages to collect four points in total from these matches, which proved insufficient to secure their passage to the Super 8 stage. Meanwhile, Afghanistan and West Indies, each already accumulating six points, have one game left and are poised to advance to the next phase of the competition.

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