Logo

Logo

CWC 2019: Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah win India close encounter with gritty Afghanistan

Mohammed Shami bagged the first hat-trick of World Cup 2019 and became the second Indian bowler after Chetan Sharma (in 1987 World Cup) to take a World Cup hat-trick.

CWC 2019: Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah win India close encounter with gritty Afghanistan

Mohammed Shami (L) and Jasprit Bumrah. (Photo: Twitter/@cricketworldcup)

India beat Afghanistan by 11 runs in their World Cup tie at The Rose Bowl, Southampton on Saturday. Jasprit Bumrah was declared Man of the Match for his figures of 2 for 39. Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami bagged the first hat-trick of World Cup 2019 and became the second Indian bowler after Chetan Sharma (in 1987 World Cup) to take a World Cup hat-trick.

Winning the toss, India skipper Virat Kohli decided to bat first.

Rohit Sharma (1) fell to Mujeeb Ur Rahman when the scorecard read 7 for 1. Afghanistan’s spinners bowled brilliantly. Overall, the spin quartet of Rahmat Shah, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi conceded just 119 runs in 34 overs and scalped 5 wickets.

Advertisement

It is to note that before this match, the Men in Blue had not lost a single wicket to spin bowling in the ongoing World Cup but Afghanistan wiped off the history on Saturday to slow down the Indian juggernaut.

Though wickets fell at regular intervals for India, Kedar Jadhav, with his knock of 52, ensured India get a fighting total.

To the Afghans’ respite, Rashid Khan, who got an infamous tag of conceding most runs in a World Cup match in Afghanistan’s previous tie with England, bounced back strongly with the figures of 1 for 38 in his 10 overs. He dismissed well-set MS Dhoni (28) who was looking to charge the 20-year-old Afghan.

Afghanistan restricted India to 224 runs for 8 in their stipulated quota 50 overs. Virat Kohli top-scored for the Men in Blue with 67. Mohammad Nabi was the star bowler for the Afghans as he scalped two important wickets of KL Rahul (30) and India skipper Virat Kohli by conceding only 33 runs in 9 overs.

During their chase, Afghanistan were at the helm of affairs midway with 106 for 2 on the board. Just as India needed an urgent breakthrough to bounce back in the game, Virat Kohli handed the ball to his ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah. The World No.1 ODI bowler proved his mettle once again by taking two wickets in a span of 3 balls and turned the game heavily in India’s favour. He sent set batsmen Rahmat Shah (36) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (21) back to the pavilion and gave the Blues the much-needed burst.

Though Afghanistan kept losing wickets Mohammad Nabi (52) dug in his heels to keep the game alive for the Afghans. Afghanistan needed 12 runs off the last 5 balls and Nabi almost got his side home. But a Mohammad Shami hat-trick snatched the match from Afghanistan’s grasp and bagged the Men in Blue two valuable points.

Brief scores: India 224 for 8 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 67, Kedar Jadhav 52, Mohammad Nabi 2/33, Gulbadin Naib 2/51) defeated Afghanistan 213 for 10 in 49.5 overs (Mohammad Nabi 52, Rahmat Shah 36, Mohammed Shami 4/40, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/36) by 11 runs.

Advertisement