CWC 2023, India vs Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai’s 121-run stand, Rohit Sharma’s 131, and Jasprit Bumrah’s 4/39 are top performances. India beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets and moved to second place in the points table.
Brief Scores: India 273/2 (Rohit 131, Kohli 55*, Rashid 2/57) beat Afghanistan 272/8 (Shahidi 80, Omarzai 62, Bumrah 4/39) by eight wickets.
Player of the Match: Rohit Sharma (131 in 84 balls)
After a nervy start to their campaign, where they beat Australia in the opener, India took on Afghanistan in match 9 of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Afghanistan is coming from a big loss from the previous, and this will be just the 4th meeting between the teams in ODI Cricket, with India winning 2 of them and one ending in a tie.
Talking Point from India vs Afghanistan, Delhi
One of the biggest takeaways from this game must be the batting form of the openers Rohit and Ishan, especially after scoring ducks in the previous game. These are good signs for India going forward, as Shubman Gill's availability is still a question mark. Rohit and Kishan among the runs at top of the order will give a great boost to Team India.
Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi opted to bat first, and both the openers, Gurbaz & Ibrahim Zadran, had a decent start. But they soon found the Indian pacers too hot to handle as Afghanistan lost 3 wickets within 15 overs. But the Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai pair brought the Afghans back into the contest with a 121-run stand for the 4th wicket. Once it was broken, Bumrah ripped through the lower middle order, and if not for the late surge, Afghanistan would not have reached 272/8.
India began the chase in style, with their openers not finally getting off the mark in World Cups but producing a batting juggernaut. Rohit was in his element today as he notched up 30 balls, and India reached their century in 71 balls. It was all carnage from the bat of Rohit as the opening stand yielded 156 runs from 112 balls as India cantered to the target in 35 overs.
Top 3 performances from the game between India and Afghanistan
The 121-run stand between Shahidi and Omarzai
Afghanistan openers had a steady start, with both Zadran and Gurbaz reaching their 20s but getting out at the wrong time. Soon, the score became 63/3, with Indian bowlers threatening to repeat their 1st match showing against Australia here as well.
But this pair took advantage of good batting conditions to maneuver both spinners and pacers alike. In the process, the pair reached their 100-run stand in 118 balls and their respective fifties. This record-making partnership led the Afghan total to reach 272.
Jasprit Bumrah’s 4-fer derails Afghan progress
Jasprit Bumrah proved to be at his element right from the word go as he once again struck with the new ball and then came back in the end overs to take a pack of wickets to jolt the Afghanistan innings. This pushed back Afghanistan from making a big score despite some ordinary bowling from the other end. Jasprit Bumrah's 4-39 with the ball on a batting friendly pitch talks about his ability to control the game.
Record maker Rohit Sharma was at his fluent best
Rohit Sharma made a mockery of the Afghan bowling by breaking a slew of records in the process. Rohit, who missed out against Australia, took a look at Afghan bowling by scoring runs for fun and dismantled the opposition to reach a 63-ball ton, which is also his 31st in ODI cricket. His knock of 131 included 16 fours & 5 maximums, helping India towards a dominating win.
Statistical highlights from India vs Afghanistan, CWC 2023
The 4th wicket partnership between Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai, yielding 121, is the 2nd best partnership for Afghanistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup. The highest partnership in a World Cup game for Afghanistan remains at 133.
The above stand is the highest 4th wicket stand against India by any team in WCs, beating the previous best of 93 by Zimbabwe’s Sean William and Brendon Taylor in 2015.
Jasprit Bumrah picked 4/39 in his 10 overs, his best figures ever in the ICC Cricket World Cup, eclipsing his previous best of 4/55 against Bangladesh in 2019.
When taking his 4th wicket, which was of Rashid Khan, Bumrah reached the 50-wicket milestone at home.
On reaching 23, the Indian skipper became the joint fastest to accumulate 1000 runs in ODI World Cups. He did so in 19 innings and equals David Warner’s tally.
Rohit is also the 4th Indian batter to complete 1000 runs in WC after Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly & Virat Kohli.
The Indian opener also crossed Chris Gayle’s tally of 553 sixes in international cricket.
Records kept tumbling from the bat of Rohit as he made his 7th World Cup, the most by any player in tournament history.
Rohit Sharma's knock was the century scored at the highest strike rate (155.95) for India in ODI WC
He became the 3rd Indian captain after Sourav Ganguly (3 in 2003) and Kapil Dev (1 in 1983) to score a century in WCs.
This was his 31st ODI ton, going past Ricky Ponting's tally of 30, making him the undisputed 3rd in the century list.
His 63-ball century is also the fastest by an Indian in this event and the 6th fastest overall.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Standings
What to come and points table
India will next meet Pakistan in what is dubbed as the mother of all clashes in Ahmedabad on Saturday with an NRR of +1.50. At the same time, Afghanistan will face defending champions England on Sunday at the same venue.
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