In the ninth encounter of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, India beat Afghanistan by eight wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. This is the consecutive second win for the hosts and are now standing in the second spot of the points table.
Afghani captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and opted to bat first on a batting-friendly Delhi wicket. Although after having a slow start, Afghanistan’s batting wing registered a medium-par total of 272 runs with the loss of eight wickets in their 50 overs, all courtesy of half-centuries from skipper Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai.
In response to the target, it was all about Rohit Sharma‘s show in the capital city. The Indian captain gave a thunderous start, along with his partner, Ishan Kishan (47). Both of them knit a massive partnership of 156 runs before Ishan departed. But the skipper, Rohit (131) was at his imperious best, and he showed his masterclass with a sensational ton. His innings had 16 fours and five humongous sixes. It was his seventh World Cup century, which is the highest by any batter. Virat Kohli (55)* also came to the party pretty well and scored his second consecutive half-century in this competition. He along with Shreyas Iyer (25)* finished the chase within 35 overs, which helped the team to fetch a strong net run rate.
With the ball, it was a tough day for the Afghanis. Only Rashid Khan had success with two wickets.
In the first innings, Afghanistan got a slow but steady start, but lost three wickets for 63. But a formidable partnership of 121 runs between Hashmatullah (80) and Omarzai (62) helped the team to get some stability after a quick stutter. Both of them scored formidable half-centuries, which assisted the team to score 272 runs in the given 50 overs.
For the two-time winners, Jasprit Bumrah was clinical with the ball, as he claimed four wickets by spending an economical 39 runs in 10 overs. Hardik Pandya got two wickets, whereas Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav got one wicket each.
The 36-year-old Indian skipper was adjudged Player of the Match for his prolific century.
Scorecard:
Afghanistan: 272/8, Overs 50, Hashmatullah Shahidi 80, Jasprit Bumrah 4/39
India: 273/2, Overs 35, Rohit Sharma 131, Rashid Khan 2/57