In a thrilling Super Eight round match of the T20 World Cup, India cruised to a 47-run victory over Afghanistan, who dominated the first innings. It is said that India set a tough target of 182 for Afghanistan in this match at Bridgetown, after 134 in the last match.
The innings started cautiously, but the team faced early problems when captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed for 11 off Fazal Haq Farooqui for just 8, Rishabh Pant then scored 20 off 11 balls and Virat Kohli contributed. 24 in a row from 24 balls.
Rashid Khan proved to be a formidable opponent as he took Pant to 54 and Kohli to 62 and put pressure on the Indian team. Despite these odds, India managed to rally through a crucial 60-over partnership between Surya Kumar Adadav and Hardik Pandya for the fifth wicket. Quickfire Adadav 53 and Pandya 32 helped India post a total of 181 in 20 overs. Additional contributions came from Shivam Dube with 10, Ravindra Jadeja with 7 and Akshar Patel remained unbeaten with 12 while Arsdeep Singh added 2.
On the bowling front, Afghanistan’s Fazal Haq Farooq and Reshit Khan took three wickets each, while Naveen ul Haq took one.
In the chase, Afghanistan struggled to maintain the required run rate and eventually lost by 134 runs. Despite their efforts, the Indian bowlers stuck to the game, ensuring a comfortable win for India in this crucial Super Eight encounter.
The match sets the stage for a thrilling round of the T20 World Cup and marks the first Super Eight appearance for both teams in Group 1.