Afghanistan underlined their growing status as the dark horses of the 2024 T20 World Cup with a seven-wicket victory over Papua New Guinea on Thursday to advance to the Super Eight phase of the competition and send New Zealand crashing out.

Fazalhaq Farooqi added another three victims to his tournament-leading wicket tally as PNG were bundled out for 95 off 19.5 overs batting first in the Group C match at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.

Afghanistan stumbled early in reply, losing both openers cheaply for the first time in the tournament but eventually reached the target for the loss of three wickets in the 16th over for a third win in a row.

Gulbadin Naib, dropped on nine by wicketkeeper Kiplin Doriga off medium-pacer Alei Nao, took his team to the target with an unbeaten 49 in an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 46 with Mohammad Nabi (16 not out). Afghanistan finished on 101-3 off 15.1 overs.

The result confirms Afghanistan's place, together with hosts West Indies, in the next round while at the same time eliminating New Zealand, who still have two group matches to play.

Left-arm seamer Farooqi spearheaded another impressive Afghan bowling effort, taking two quick wickets after PNG captain Assad Vala inadvertently opened the door for his opponents when he was carelessly run out in the second over of the match.

Two more run outs followed and Farooqi returned in the 19th over to claim another scalp to finish with three for 16 before a fourth run out ended the innings.

England hammered Oman by eight wickets as the reigning champions revived their T20 World Cup campaign with a record-breaking win in Antigua on Thursday.

Needing a heavy victory to bolster their net run-rate as they attempt to overhaul Scotland in the race to qualify for the second round, England routed Oman for just 47.

England then made 50-2 in a mere 3.1 overs, captain Jos Buttler 24 not out and Jonny Bairstow, who hit the winning boundary, unbeaten on eight.

This overwhelming Group B victory meant England recorded the largest win in T20 World Cup history in terms of balls remaining.

Oman had no answer to England's attack, leg-spinner Adil Rashid taking 4-11, while express quicks Jofra Archer and Mark Wood both had figures of 3-12 in an innings that ended with nearly seven overs to spare.

Number seven Shoaib Khan (11) was the only Oman batsman to reach double figures after Buttler won the toss.

England's net run-rate climbed to 3.081, better than Scotland's 2.16, although they stayed third on three points, behind the Scots' five.

Pat Cummins ruled out Thursday the prospect of Australia underperforming against Scotland in a bid to oust rivals England from the Twenty20 World Cup, saying it would be against the "spirit of cricket."

Bowling spearhead Josh Hazlewood caused controversy this week when he said it would be in Australia's interests for reigning champions England to be out of the competition.

Australia have already secured their place in the next round, the Super Eights, and he suggested they could ease up in their closing Group B game against Scotland this weekend to engineer their bitter rivals' exit.

That scenario now appears less likely after England crushed Oman by eight wickets on Thursday to move above Scotland on net run rate with a final game to come against Namibia.

England coach Matt Mott -- an Australian -- said he hoped Hazlewood was joking and Australia's Test and one-day skipper Cummins assured him that the bowler was.

"When you go out and play you're trying your best every time. And if you're not, it's probably against the spirit of cricket," Cummins told reporters in St Lucia.

"I don't think you can (go into a game not trying to win) -– ever. You're playing an international game in the middle of a World Cup.

"You still want to try and have a good game and carry that on into the Super Eights. I've never stepped on to the field without the mindset of being aggressive, like the guys have so far."

Cummins said he had spoken to Hazlewood and the comments were tongue-in-cheek and "got taken a bit out of context."

"We'll go out there and try to play Scotland, who have had a really good tournament so far, so it's going to be tough," he said.

"It's something you discuss as one of the quirks of the set-up, but it does it change the way we play? Absolutely not."

The United States became the first team to be penalised five runs under the new stop-clock rules in their T20 World Cup loss to India on Wednesday but coach Stuart Law insisted it "did not affect the outcome of the game".

The sanction has been introduced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in an effort to speed up play.

A team is penalised if after two warnings they still take more than a minute between overs.

On Wednesday, the US were penalised at the start of the 16th over and instead of needing 35 runs off 30 balls to reach their 111-run target, India's task became 30 off 30 deliveries instead.

"We had a few warnings in earlier games, and it's something we do talk about to get through faster between the overs," said former Australian international Law.

"We're only a fledgling team. There's plenty to learn. There's not just the cricket aspect of the game of cricket, but there's also the other intricacies that need to be embedded. It's a rule that's only just come in.

"A lot of our players wouldn't have heard about it before we played in the Bangladesh series or the Canada series earlier this year."

Despite the penalty, Law said the five-run sanction would not have impacted the outcome of the Group A clash.

India won by seven wickets with a comfortable 10 balls to spare to qualify for the second round Super Eights.

"Five runs wasn't going to affect the outcome of the game," added Law.

"The players know the rule, but it's something that if you haven't played with it for a long time, it's very difficult to have it embedded in your brain."

Law said he has no issue with the new regulation if it helps speed up passages of play.

"There needs to be a pace of play. I think if you're dragging games out that should last three and a half hours, they're going for four and a half hours, that's a bit much.

"I don't see it as a bad thing, I see it as a good thing. The game continues to move. When momentum is with you, you want to keep that momentum running quicker and put the opposition under pressure that way."

Sherfane Rutherford rescued the West Indies with the bat and their bowlers contained New Zealand to complete a 13-run victory in a Group C match of the T20 World Cup in Trinidad on Wednesday.

Rutherford's unbeaten 68 off 39 balls (two fours, six sixes) lifted the home side from the depths of 30 for five in the seventh over to a competitive 149 for nine after they were put in by Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson.

Thrashed in their opening match by Afghanistan and therefore in a virtual must-win situation, the Black Caps never developed any momentum in the chase in being restricted to 136 for nine.

The defeat leaves New Zealand needing a miracle to progress beyond the group stage. The Kiwis will be eliminated if Afghanistan defeat Papua New Guinea on Thursday.

Sherfane Rutherford rescued the West Indies from a seemingly hopeless position to a competitive 149 for nine batting first against New Zealand in a Group C match of the T20 World Cup at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad on Wednesday.

Rutherford's unbeaten 68 off 39 balls (two fours, six sixes) lifted the home side from the depths of 30 for five in the seventh over after they were put in by Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson.

Earlier, Trent Boult led New Zealand's much-improved effort by dispatching Johnson Charles in the first over of the match, finishing with the excellent figures of three for 16.

After victories over Papua New Guinea and Uganda at the Guyana National Stadium, West Indies seemed unprepared for the challenge, until Rutherford intervened to transform what was shaping up as an abject capitulation.

Heavy rain and a waterlogged outfield led to the abandonment of the T20 World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Nepal on Tuesday in Florida.

The result meant that Group D leaders South Africa, who have won all three of their games, become the first team to qualify for the Super Eight stage of the tournament.

Rain had poured down for most of the day, with flood warnings in place around the region, but a break in the weather led ground staff to begin the task of trying to dry the field.

South Africa lead Group D with a perfect six points in three matches, while Bangladesh and the Netherlands have two points each from two games.

Australia marched into the Super Eights  of the T20 World Cup with a nine-wicket demolition of Namibia at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Tuesday.

Adam Zampa led the rout of an outclassed Namibia with figures of 4-12, becoming the first Australian man to reach 100 T20I wickets.

The southern Africans were bundled out for just 72 off 17 overs after batting first.

With victories under their belt over Oman and arch-rivals England, Australia then sped to the target in just 5.4 overs for the loss of one wicket.

Travis Head finished unbeaten on 34 and captain Mitchell Marsh struck the winning boundary to be 18 not out.

After losing to USA and India narrowly, Pakistan will face a do-or-die situation in the T20 World Cup 2024 when they will take on Canada in a Group A match at New York’s Nassau County International Stadium tonight, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

In the 22nd match of the T20 World Cup, hosted jointly by the USA and West Indies and organized by the ICC, Pakistan and Canada will face off at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. The match is set to begin at 7:30 PM Pakistan time.

Following defeats to both the USA and India, Pakistan’s chances of reaching the Super Eight stage seem slim. With two losses already, Pakistan need to win their remaining two matches, while the USA must lose both of their upcoming matches which will clear path for Pakistan to qualify for next stage.

Pakistan’s next opponents are Canada and Ireland, while the USA will compete against India and Ireland. Should the USA win just one more match, they will secure a spot in the Super Eight. The match against Ireland will be crucial for Pakistan’s hopes.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Syed Mohsin Naqvi has said he knows what is going on between members of the Pakistan cricket team and the time has come for a major surgery in the national squad, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Monday.

Reacting to team Pakistan’s defeat to arch-rivals India by six runs in a T-20 Cricket World Cup (WC) match played in New York on Sunday, Naqvi, who is also the country’s interior minister, has said that the nation will witness major changes in the team.

He has said it is time to give the players sitting out in the dugout a chance to show their talent. “Now I have to prepare the team for the upcoming Champions Trophy and make it one of the best in the world,” he has said, and described the national team’s loss to India as extremely disappointing. “Never ever the performance of our team has been as poor as it is right now.”

The nation, the PCB chairman went on to say, did not expect its team to perform so poorly.