Jimmy Neesham claimed his maiden five-wicket ODI haul and Rashid Khan took a nasty blow to the head as New Zealand beat Afghanistan by seven wickets in the Cricket World Cup.

The Black Caps maintained their perfect record in the tournament with an emphatic victory at Taunton on Saturday.

Afghanistan were unable to pull off a shock, all-rounder Neesham taking 5-31 and Lockie Ferguson 4-37 as they collapsed to 172 all out.

Rashid played no further part as a precautionary measure after being struck on the helmet by a short delivery from Ferguson, the ball bouncing down and striking his stumps.

Aftab Alam removed Martin Guptill from the first ball of New Zealand’s run chase and took 3-45, but captain Kane Williamson struck an unbeaten 79 to get his side home with 107 balls to spare.

Ross Taylor also made 48 in a comfortable win for a Black Caps side who are on course for the semi-finals.