BARBADOS: India secured a convincing victory against Afghanistan by 47 runs in their first match of the Super 8 stage in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
Chasing a target of 182 runs to notch their first win in the second round, Afghanistan, led by Rashid Khan, managed to reach only 134 runs all-out within their allotted 20 overs.
Jasprit Bumrah emerged as the standout performer for India with the ball, claiming three crucial wickets during the match. He concedes just seven runs in four overs.
Afghanistan struggled to maintain the required pace in their chase and fell short against a formidable Indian team.
Bumrah provided India with an early breakthrough by dismissing Afghanistan’s in-form batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz for just 11 runs in the first over.
Following Gurbaz’s dismissal, Afghanistan lost two more quick wickets of the Hazratullah Zazai (2) and Ibrahim Zadran (8).
A partnership of 44 runs between Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai provided some stability for Afghanistan in the middle overs. However, their efforts were insufficient as both batsmen lost their wickets in the 11th and 12th overs, respectively.
Afghanistan continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and eventually finished their innings at 134 runs for the loss of all wickets within 20 overs.
On the bowling front for India, Arshdeep Singh claimed four wickets, Bumrah took three, Kuldeep Yadav grabbed two, while Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel secured one wicket each.
Earlier bating first, India posted a competitive total of 181/8 in 20 overs. Suryakumar Yadav played a crucial innings, scoring a half-century, supported by Hardik Pandya who contributed 34 runs. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Rashid took three wickets each for Afghanistan.
India faced an initial challenge when their captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed by Farooqi after scoring just eight runs off 13 balls.
Despite the early setback, India displayed resilience as partnership between Yadav and Pandya propelled their innings.
Yadav played an aggressive innings, scoring 53 runs off 28 balls, while Pandya contributed 32 runs off 24 balls.
Axar Patel added valuable runs at the end, scoring 12 runs off six balls.
For Afghanistan, Farooqi and Rashid claimed three wickets each, with Naveen-ul-Haq taking one wicket.
