ICC World Cup 2019: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami Take India To Thrilling Win

India won the thrilling contest against Afghanistan by 11 runs in the 28th match of the World Cup. Jasprit Bumrah scalped two wickets and bowled with fire. Mohammad Shami added the finishing touches as he snared a hat-trick in the final over to finish off the job

India vs Afghanistan – Afghanistan’s innings:

Afghanistan could not get to an ideal start to their run-chase as they lost the wicket of Hazratullah Zazai. The southpaw was cleaned up by Mohammad Shami when the fast bowler came to bowl from round the wicket. Gulbadin Naib and Rahmat Shah provided the stability to Afghanistan’s innings as they added 44 runs for the second wicket.

Hardik Pandya was taken for 20 runs in his first two overs. However, Kohli once again backed his all-rounder and Pandya was able to deliver the goods. He tested Gulbadin Naib with a short-pitched delivery and produced a top-edge which ballooned to Vijay Shankar.

Hashmatullah Shahidi and Rahmat Shah added 42 runs and once again brought their team back into the contest. Subsequently, Virat Kohli brought back his pack leader Jasprit Bumrah.

Bumrah didn’t disappoint in his second spell as he bowled a two-wicket maiden. The gun fast bowler was able to bounce out Rahmat Shah with a well-directed bumper. Yuzvendra Chahal took a fine catch while diving forward at fine leg. Furthermore, Bumrah took a good catch off his bowling when Hashmatullah Shahidi got a top edge.

Chahal was able to clean up Asghar Afghan with a full pitched delivery when the right-hander went for the slog sweep. Subsequently, Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi were once again able to keep Afghanistan in the contest.

However, Zadran was bamboozled by a slower one from Hardik Pandya in his last over with Yuzvendra Chahal taking a simple catch.

India vs Afghanistan – India’s innings:

India got off to a poor start as their man-in-form Rohit Sharma could not read Mujeeb Ur Rahman carrom ball after skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first. Rohit could not judge the line of the ball and he was beaten on the outside edge. Subsequently, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul added 57 runs for the second wicket partnership.

However, when KL Rahul was looking set for a big score, he made the mistake of going for the reverse sweep. But Rahul could not get the connection he was looking for and spooned the ball to short third man.

Like Rahul, Vijay Shankar had a perfect chance to grab his chance while batting at number four position. The Tamil Nadu batsman made 29 runs from 41 balls with the help of two fours. However, Shankar went for the sweep and he was plumbed in front by Rahmat Shah.

Subsequently, MS Dhoni failed to rotate the strike at regular intervals as the run-rate dropped. Meanwhile, Kohli completed his third fifty of the World Cup as the Indian captain looked set for a big score. However, Kohli could not keep his cut to the ground when Mohammad Nabi extracted extra bounce from the surface – to hold out to the short third man.

On the other hand, Kedar Jadhav played a good knock of 52 runs from 68 balls with the help of three fours. However, India could not find a dasher in their innings as runs didn’t come easy. The Afghanistan spinners were able to keep a lid on the scoring rate.

Afghanistan skipper Gulbadin Naib and Mohammad Nabi scalped two wickets each. Aftab Alam, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rashid Khan and Rahmat Shah took one wicket each.