India beat Afghanistan by a comprehensive 47-run margin in the first match of Group 1 of the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup 2024 on Thursday, June 20, at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Rohit Sharma opted to bat first after winning the toss but India got off to a poor start as they lost their captain in the third over. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant played contrasting knocks to take India past the 50-run mark. However, both of them perished in their 20s as India slumped to 62/3 in the ninth over.
Shivam Dube perished soon after and India were in a spot of bother at 90/4. Rashid Khan was in the middle of a fine spell as he took three quick wickets but Suryakumar Yadav didn't allow Afghanistan to boss the game at any stage. He stitched an invaluable 60-run partnership off 37 balls with Hardik Pandya to set India up for a blistering finish. Suryakumar departed in the 17th over after scoring 53 off 28 balls. Hardik was also dismissed in the following over, as India needed someone who could finish the innings strongly. Axar Patel hit a couple of boundaries at the death and took the Men in Blue to 181/8 in their 20 overs.
Rashid and Fazalhaq Farooqi were the standout bowlers for Afghanistan, as they scalped three wickets apiece.
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Jasprit Bumrah's fury decimates Afghanistan
Afghanistan needed their in-form opening duo of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran to fire at the top. The wicketkeeper-batter started the innings with a boundary off Arshdeep Singh but departed in the second over bowled by Jasprit Bumrah. Afghanistan lost Zadran and Hazratullah Zazai inside the powerplay and only managed 35 runs. Bumrah bowled a couple of overs inside the powerplay and picked up two wickets for only five runs.
Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai tried to steady the ship but their 44-run partnership came off 38 balls and the required run-rate skyrocketed to worrisome proportions. The Blue Tigers kept on losing wickets through the middle overs as the Indian bowlers bowled tight lines and made run-scoring as difficult as possible.
Eventually, Afghanistan were bowled out off the last ball of the innings, only managed 134 runs in total. Bumrah finished with mind-boggling figures of 3/7 in four overs, continuing his sensational run in the T20 World Cup 2024. Arshdeep Singh also bagged three wickets, while Kuldeep Yadav, playing his first match of the tournament, picked up a couple. Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel also accounted for one wicket each.
Meanwhile, here's what the captains and POTM of Afghanistan vs India clash had to say:
Rohit Sharma, Winning Captain
The last two years we've played T20s here, so we understand the conditions and planned accordingly. We adapted well and got 180, which was a great effort from the batters. We had class bowlers who defended it perfectly. Everyone came in and did their job, that's critical and we dwell on it. SKY and Hardik's partnership was critical at that point, we needed someone to bat deep which they did. We know Bumrah's class and what he can do. Important for us to use him smartly regardless of conditions. He's willing to responsibility and he's been doing it for years. (Three-spinners combination) Have to assess conditions, opposition and based on that we're open to make changes if required. Felt three spinners were good here, if it's seamer-friendly next time, we'll go with seamers.
Rashid Khan, Losing Captain
We knew we'd be chasing 160-170 given it was against a bigger team. We could've done it had we executed smarter. My bowling has been coming out well, I struggled early in the IPL but am hitting the right areas consistently. but it's the match result that matters most. We've enjoyed our cricket everywhere but our mindset is what matters. If the conditions are helpful, we'll use it depending on if it's a batting or bowling track.
Suryakumar Yadav, POTM
Lot of hard work and practice has gone behind this. Lot of routine and process. I'm very clear about what to do when I go out. I don't mind giving this POTM award to a bowler as well. First for a batter, hope first of many. When Rashid bowls it's tough to get him away. (Adjustments from US to WI) You need to know what the game plan is. Keep the team first when you go out there. I remember when Hardik came in, I told him not to leave too much at the end, when the ball gets old/reverses. Just wanted to push the pedal, see where we get to at 16 overs, and take it from there.
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