A reeling India took on Afghanistan in their third game of the World Cup. The Men in Blue were desperate to record a win in order to keep their hopes of making the semis alive. Not just win, they had to ensure that they win by a big margin. India’s skipper Virat Kohli lost yet another toss and was put into bat. But this time it looked as though India went in with a different intent altogether as openers KL Rahul & Rohit Sharma put on an absolute carnage in the powerplay, putting balls away with absolute ease.
The opening partnership kept getting bigger and bigger with every over, and both Sharma as well as Rahul looked in sublime form. There were some sumptuous cuts, lofted hits down the ground, and beautiful drives played as both of them got to their fifities. Not even the class of Rashid could bother the duo as their record partnership ticked 140 in a mere 14 overs. It was finally broken in the 15th over, but Pant and Pandya just continued the onslaught and kept rollicking along with some huge hits, both striking at a rate of over 200. A confident looking India posted a mammoth 210-2 in their 20 overs.
India needed a massive win in order to help their NRR, and they looked on the money right from the word go as Mohammed Shami dismissed the Afghan opener Mohammed Shahzad for a naught, with that trademark straight seam of Shami on display. After Bumrah sent left-hander Hazratullah Zazai back to the huts, Rahmanullah Gurbaz showcased his talent with a quick breeze 19 off 10 including some clean blows. Once he was dismissed, Afghanistan looked all over the place. Ravichandran Ashwin, in his comeback game bowled beautifully and picked two wickets in the middle overs. It went from bad to worse for Afghanistan as they couldn’t disguise Shami’s slower balls in the death and succumbed to them.
They fell fighting as even in the last over there were some big hits, but India comprehensively beat Afghanistan in all three facets of the game to mark their first win in this year’s T20 WC. That win ensures that India have a substantial increase in NRR and keep their hopes alive of making it to the semi finals. But given the turbulent start, their fortunes also lies in how New Zealand fare in their remaining games.
-Vibhor Dubey
The Average Cricketer 