T20 WC, IND vs AFG Highlights: India wins by 66 runs, stays in semis race
India would now hope that Afghanistan can recover from this drubbing and upset New Zealand, giving Virat Kohli's men an outside chance to qualify for the semi-finals
 "Virat Kohli")
A formidable India led by their stylish openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul finally put up a near-flawless performance to annihilate a hapless Afghanistan by 66 runs to stay afloat in the ICC T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.
It could well be a case of joining the party two games too late but a solid batting show to first score 210 for 2 and then bowl the disciplined lines to restrict Afghanistan to 144 for 7 kept their billion plus fans interested.
With their net run-rate finally entering the positive bracket (+0.073), India would now hope that Afghanistan can recover from this drubbing and upset New Zealand, giving Virat Kohli's men an outside chance to qualify for the semi-finals behind Pakistan who are set to top the group.
On the day, India did everything that perhaps was expected of them against the big teams.
Rohit brought his carefree elegance to the table while Rahul was classy as ever in India's imposing total.
While they would still have to bear the criticism of having flattered to deceive against Pakistan and New Zealand, Rohit (74 off 47 balls) and KL Rahul (69 off 48 balls) made a mockery of Afghanistan's inexperienced attack, putting up a record 140 runs for the opening stand.
This was also the highest total in this edition of T20 World Cup but one can only hope that it hasn't come two matches too late.
It couldn't be denied that save Rashid Khan, who was taken to task by Rohit in his third over, the other Afghans were pedestrian at best, leaving Hardik Pandya (35 no off 13 balls) and Rishabh Pant (27 no off 13 balls) to feast during the death overs.
The Pandya-Pant duo clobbered 63 runs in 3.3 overs to take the total which was always going to be beyond Afghanistan's reach.
When India bowled, Ravichandran Ashwin, playing his first international game in six months and white ball international after four years, was too good for the Afghans with figures of 2 for 12 in four overs that also had 12 dots.
Jasprit Bumrah (1/25 in 4 overs) was steady as usual while Ravindra Jadeja (1/19 in 3 overs) looked decent. Mohammed Shami (3/32 in 4 overs) got a bit of stick but picked wickets at regular intervals.
With no disrespect to India's efforts, the gulf in bowling standards was evident in the disdainful manner that Rohit and Rahul treated the Afghan attack. Hardik and Pant then added insult to the injury.
The mid-130s speed of the pacers and lack of swing with not much pace off the track was an ideal recipe for disaster against the two Indian openers, who were smarting after back-to-back failures.
On a track where the ball was gripping, Afghanistan captain Mohammed Nabi started with his off-breaks and introduced left-arm spinner Sharafuddin Ashraf from the other end.
For the two Indian openers, who needed a few big shots to get into the groove, there couldn't have been a more mouth-watering option as Rohit was the first one off the block with an inside-out lofted boundary over extra-cover off Nabi and a lap-shot off Sharafuddin.
When pacer Naveen ul Haq was introduced, Rohit opened his stance to slash the bowler past point and a straight six while Rahul also got his share of boundaries.
The 50 of the innings came in five overs but it was veteran pacer Hamid Hasan, who bowled the last over of the Powerplay to put a brief brake on scoring during that phase after the fielding restrictions were lifted.
However, the good start meant that 85 came off the first 10 overs with both openers looking solid for acceleration towards the back-10.
One of the better boundaries from Rohit was the one which he guided a Gulbadin Naib delivery towards third-man fence, using the bounce to inch towards his half-century.
The 23rd T20 International fifty came when he square-cut an off-colour Naveen to the boundary and Rahul followed suit with a six over square leg off the same bowler and then lofting Gulbadin over extra cover to reach the milestone.
By the time Rashid (0/36 in 4 overs) came for his final spell, Rohit and Rahul were competing to out-score each other.
Rohit saved his best for Rashid when he lofted the spinner towards deep mid-wicket even when he hadn't reached to the pitch of the delivery but the bat-swing did it for him. The next was picture perfect as it was sent soaring into grass banks.
By the time Rohit was out trying to smash Karim Janat over extra cover, he had got eight fours and three sixes.
Rahul was also dismissed within another seven runs, being cleaned up by Gulbadin as he tried to shuffle towards off-stump but by then a solid platform for victory was already laid.
ICC T20 WC, India vs Afghanistan Live scoreboard
11:13 PM![]()
India wins!
India registers its first victory in T20 WC, wins by 66 runs!
11:12 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 20 overs | AFG 144/7
Over Summary: 4 1 1 1 1 6
Ball 6: Hardik to Janat, SIX, to deep extra cover
Ball 5: Single
Ball 4: Single
Ball 3: Single
Ball 2: Karim picks one
Ball 1: Hardik to Karim, FOUR
11:08 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 19 overs | AFG 130/7
Over Summary: Wd W 1 W 2 1 0
Ball 6: No run
Ball 5: Single
Ball 4: Janat picks two
Ball 3: OUT! Rashid caught ont eh first ball
Ball 2: Single
Ball 1: Shami to Nabi, out Caught by Jadeja
10:59 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 18 overs | AFG 125/5
Shardul Thakur is back into the attack
Over Summary: 1 6 4 2 1 2
Ball 6: Two off it
Ball 5: Single
Ball 4: Two off it
Ball 3: FOUR! Pulled away to deep mid-wicket
Ball 2: SIX! Slammed to long-off by Nabi
Ball 1: Thakur to Janat, single
10:53 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 17 overs | AFG 109/5
Shardul Thakur [1-0-5-0] is back into the attack
Over Summary: 4 1 4 0 Wd Wd 0 0
Ball 6: No run
Ball 5: No run
Ball 5: Wide
Ball 5: Wide
Ball 4: No run
Ball 3: FOUR!
Ball 2: Single
Ball 1: Bumrah to Janat, FOUR
10:51 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 16 overs | AFG 98/5
Shardul Thakur [1-0-5-0] is back into the attack
Over Summary: 1 6 1 0 1 1
Ball 6: Single
Ball 5: Single
Ball 4: No run
Ball 3: Single
Ball 2: SIX!
Ball 1: Thakur to Nabi, 1 run
10:50 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 15 overs | AFG 88/5
Jasprit Bumrah [2.0-0-11-1] is back into the attack
Over Summary: 0 1 0 1 0 1
Ball 6: Single
Ball 5: No run
Ball 4: Single
Ball 3: No run
Ball 2: Nabi picks one
Ball 1: Bumrah to Nabi, no run
10:39 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 14 overs | AFG 85/5
Ravindra Jadeja [2-0-9-1] is back into the attack
Over Summary: 1 1 1 1 0 1
Ball 6: Single
Ball 5: No run
Ball 4: Single
Ball 3: Single
Ball 2: Janat picks one
Ball 1: Ashwin to Nabi, single
10:38 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 13 overs | AFG 80/5
Ravindra Jadeja [2-0-9-1] is back into the attack
Over Summary: 1 2 1 4 1 1
Ball 6: Single
Ball 5: Single
Ball 4: Janat hits it for a boundary
Ball 3: Single
Ball 2: Nabi picks two
Ball 1: Jadeja to Janat, 1 run
10:37 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 12 overs | AFG 70/5
Over Summary: 0 2 0 1 W 1
Ball 6: Single
Ball 5: OUT! Najibullah gets trapped totally and Ashwin scalps another!
Ball 4: Single
Ball 3: No run, almost carried to Rohit at short cover but Nabi surives it
Ball 2: Nabi picks two
Ball 1: Ashwin to Nabi, no run
10:28 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 11 overs | AFG 66/4
Shardul Thakur, right-arm fast medium, comes into the attack
Over Summary: 1 1 1 1 0 1
Ball 6: Single
Ball 5: No run
Ball 4: Single
Ball 3: Single
Ball 2: Single
Ball 1: Thakur to Nabi, single
10:20 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 10 overs | AFG 61/4
Over Summary: 1 0 W 1 0 Wd 0
Ball 6: No run
Ball 6: Wide
Ball 5: No run
Ball 4: Nabi picks one
Ball 3: OUT! Gulbadin given lbw by the umpire!
Ball 2: No run
Ball 1: Ashwin to Najibullah, 1 run
10:14 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 9 overs | AFG 58/3
Jadeja continues
Over Summary: 0 6 1 0 0 0
Ball 6: No run
Ball 5: No run
Ball 4: No run
Ball 3: Single
Ball 2: Jadeja to Najibullah, SIX! Slammed to long-on
Ball 1: Jadeja to Najibullah, no run
10:11 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 8 overs | AFG 51/3
Ravichandran Ashwin, right-arm off break, comes into the attack
Over Summary: 0 1 0 0 0 1
Ball 6: Single
Ball 5: No run
Ball 4: No run
Ball 3: No run
Ball 2: Single
Ball 1: Ashwin to Gulbadin, no run
10:09 PM
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T20 WC, IND vs AFG Live Score after 7 overs | AFG 49/3
Ravindra Jadeja, Left arm orthodox, comes into the attack
Over Summary: 0 0 1 0 W 1
Ball 6: Single
Ball 5: OUT! Gurbaz ts it in the air but gets caught by Hardik
Ball 4: No run
Ball 3: Single
Ball 2: No run
Ball 1: Jadeja to Gulbadin, no run
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First Published: Nov 02 2021 | 11:33 PM IST
