India vs Afghanistan T20 WC LIVE: India Seal 66-Run Victory
India's 210/2 was the highest-score by a team at the 2021 T20 World Cup
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A Much Needed Win
The India that were pre-tournament favourites finally make an appearance at this 2021 T20 World Cup as they've thrashed Afghanistan by 66 runs.
Their 210/2 is the highest-score by a team at this event so far and the win finally helps them move out of the fifth spot in the standings. Virat Kohli's team is now fourth behind Pakistan, Afghanistan and New Zealand. Their net run rate has climbed to +0.073. New Zealand's is +0.816 and Afghanistan's has dropped to +1.481.
Rohit Sharma with his 74 is named the Player of the Match.
Hardik to Finish it Off
Hardik Pandya gets his second over of the day in the 20th. Karim Janat hits him for a boundary off the first ball and a six off the last as India bag their first victory of the tournament.
India win the match by 66 runs.
Rashid Khan Out First Ball
Two deliveries after Nabi's wicket, Mohammed Shami picks his third scalp of the night as Rashid Khan falls first ball. Hardik Pandya with the catch at long-on.
Afghanistan are 130/7 in 19 overs.
Shami Gets Nabi
First ball of the 19th over and Mohammed Shami picks his second wicket of the match. It's the Afghan skipper Mohammad Nabi who is walking back to the dressing room - caught by Jadeja on 35.
Afghanistan 126/6 after 18.1 overs
11 Runs Off 17th Over
Jasprit Bumrah completes his fourth overs in the 17th. Karim Janat and Mohammad Nabi hit him for two boundaries off the first three balls but the fifth delivery goes wide twice. 11 runs off the over as Afghanistan end it at 109/5.
They need 102 runs off 18 balls.
Bumrah Concedes 3 Runs in 15th
The runs have pretty much dried up out in the middle in Abu Dhabi as India continue to mount the pressure.
Mohammad Nabi and Karim Janat score just 3 runs off Bumrah in the 15th over as India look set to add a large chunk to their net run rate tonight.
Afghanistan 88/5 after 15 overs
Ashwin Finishes With a Tight Over
The ace Indian spinner is given his fourth over of the match in the 14th and he concedes just 5 runs as Nabi and Karim Janat deal in just singles.
A brilliant outing of 2/14 for Ashwin as he finishes off.
Afghanistan 85/5 after 14 overs
Afghans 5 Down
Najibullah Zadran lasts all of 13 deliveries before becoming R Ashwin's second wicket of the match. Redemption much?
Ashwin, playing his first match of the tournament, castles the number five batter as India have their fifth wicket of the match.
Afghanistan 70/5 after 12 overs
Afghanistan 61/4 After 10
10th over of the innings and Ravichandran Ashwin picks up his first wicket. He's playing his first match of the T20 World Cup, with Varun nursing a niggle, and the ace spinner has trapped Gulbadin Naib lbw on 18.
Najibullah Zadran then joins his skipper Nabi out in the middle as Afghanistan complete their first 10 overs at 61/4.
Rahmanullah Out to Jadeja
Two sixes and one boundary he's hit so far but Rahmanullah's innings is ended by Ravindra Jadeja off the fifth ball of the seventh over. Out for 19 off 10 balls.
Afghanistan now 49/3 after 7 overs
Hardik Pandya Bowls!
The most anticipated comeback of this T20 World Cup? Hardik Pandya is given the ball on the last over of the powerplay as he bowls for the first time in months.
The Indian all-rounder is hit for a boundary off the first ball by Gulbadin as Afghanistan score 9 runs off the over.
Afghanistan 47/2 after 6 overs.
Afghanistan 38/2 After 5 Overs
Shami goes for 21 runs in the fifth over as Rahmanullah and Gulbadin smash him for two boundaries and two sixes.
Bumrah Makes it Two!
After the fall of Shahzad's wicket, Hazratullah Zazai also loses his wicket on the other side of the break. Jasprit Bumrah with the wicket, as Shardul Thakur takes the catch at mid-on.
Zazai out on 13. Afghanistan 13/2 after 3.1 overs
Shami Strikes!
Just the two wickets taken by India so far in this T20 World Cup but now Shami joins the elite wicket-takers club alongside Jasprit Bumrah as he picks the wicket of Mohammad Shahzad. Caught by Ashwin, out on a duck.
Afghanistan 13/1 after 2.6 overs
Afghanistan Start Chase
Hazratullah and Shahzad start Afghanistan's chase with Shami and Bumrah given the new ball. They're 12/0 after 2 overs.
Record Total by India
Hamid Hassan is given the ball for the final over but the Indian batting pair is relentless. Pant smashes him for a four and a six to start the over and Pandya completes the onslaught with boundary on the second last ball.
India finish at 210/2. It's the highest total of this edition of the T20 World Cup.
Another Big Over For Hardik
Naveen-ul-Haq has the ball for the penultimate over and Hardik Pandya gets a big respite when his catch is dropped on the first ball of the over. Pandya then goes onto capitalise on the opportunity as he smashes two big sixes to score 19 runs off the over.
India 194/2 after 19 overs
Pandya Hits Four Boundaries
Comes out to bat at number four and Hardik Pandya gets straight to business as he's smashed Hamid Hassan for three boundaries in the 18th over.
India 175/2 after 18 overs
KL Rahul Falls to Gulbadin
The second wicket partnership lasted all of 11 deliveries as KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant added 7 runs before Gulbadin Naid picked up his first wicket of the match - Rahul out on on a 48-ball 69.
Interesting batting order shuffle as Hardik Pandya now walks out to bat.
At the other end thought, Rishabh Pant finishes off the over with two back-to-back sixes.
Indian 160/2 after 17 overs
Karim Janat Breaks Partnership
The 15th over of the match and KL Rahul starts by smashing Karim Janat for a boundary off the first delivery. The 23-year-old is the seventh bowler being used by Afghanistan today but he manages to get the big breakthrough they needed- Rohit Sharma caught by Mohammad Nabi on 74.
India 142/1 after 15 overs.
Another batting order change? Rishabh Pant is walking out to bath instead of Virat.
Rohit Smashes Sixes Off Rashid
It's been an interesting face-off between the Indian openers and Rashid Khan but it seems like Rohit Sharma is ready to switch gears as he smashes two sixes off the last two deliveries of the 14th over.
India 135/0 after 14 overs
KL Hits Fifty
After Rohit's fifty in the previous over, KL Rahul completes his half century too, off the first ball of the 13th over. His 13th T20I half century, his first in T20 World Cups.
Rahul then hits a boundary to finish off Gulbadin Naib's over.
India 119/0 after 13 overs.
Rohit Completes Half Century
The second delivery of the 12th over by Naveen-ul-Haq and Rohit Sharma smashes a boundary to complete his half century- his 23rd T20I fifty.
16 runs come off the over and India are 107/0 after 12 overs
India 85/0 After 10 Overs
6 bowlers used by Mohammed Nabi so far but India's opening pair are cruising ahead. Rohit Sharma is on 44 and KL Rahul on 40 at the end of the 10 overs.
Rashid Khan Concedes 6
Rashid Khan bowls his first in the 8th over of the match and Rohit and Rahul manoeuver around him to pick up 6 runs.
India 65/0 after 8 overs
Meanwhile, New Zealand Win Their Second
Martin Guptill's stunning 93 helped New Zealand beat Scotland by 16 runs earlier this evening and the Kiwis now move to 4 points from 3 matches.
After posting 172/5 in 20 overs, the Black Caps restricted Scotland to 156/5 which now means they remain in the third spot, ties on points with Afghanistan. Nabi's team has an excellent net run rate of +3.097 courtesy their big win over Scotland earlier in the tournament. India are fifth with no wins from two matches.
DRS Appeal by Afghanistan
Hamid Hassan manages to stop the run flow, conceding 1 run in the sixth over. There's also a DRS LBW appeal by the Afghans against Rohit Sharma but the TV replays reflect that the on-field umpire's not out decision was the correct one and Rohit bats on.
India 53/0 after 6 overs
India Cross 50
Naveen-ul-Haq returns in the fifth over after conceding 7 runs in the third over but this time, Rohit Sharma hits a few big ones and that's 17 runs off the over.
India go past the 50-run mark in the fifth over. 52/0.
Sharafuddin Goes For 16
Sharafuddin bowls his first over of the tournament, coming in as a replacement for the retired Asghar Afghan but the bowler doesn't have the most ideal of welcomes.
Rohit hits him for a four and a six before KL Rahul finishes the over with another boundary, over mid-on and that's 16 runs from the over.
India 23/0 after 2 overs
Regular Openers Return
Lots of talk around Rohit Sharma's batting slot in the last match with the regular opener being made to bat at one down so Ishan Kishan could open with KL Rahul. However, it's business as usual now with Rohit opening with KL.
The two face Afghan skipper Mohammed Nabi in the first over as India end it at 7/0.
Playing XIs
India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah
Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammad Nabi (captain), Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, Hamid Hassan and Naveen Ul Haq
Toss Report: Afghanistan Elect to Bowl
They traditionally like to bat first but Afghanistan captain Mohammed Nabi has won the toss and elected to bowl first in Abu Dhabi tonight.
Two changes in his XI with Sharafuddin Ashraf coming in for Asghar Afghan who retired after the team's previous fixture. 'Mujeeb Ur Rahman is still unavailable,' he adds.
'Last game there was a lot of dew in the second half. We always prepare for both, but today we'll bowl first because of dew. We'll play normal cricket and go and enjoy,' adds Nabi when asked of the team's usual preference to bat first after winning the toss.
Virat Kohli says India too have made two changes. Suryakumar Yadav has recovered and he's back in the XI, taking Ishan Kishan's spot. Ravichandran Ashwin (finally!) also gets a game with nursing a left calf issue.
'Firstly there's no denying the fact that the situation is a tricky one. Having said that, there's still a chance. We as a team will look at the chance and try to play positive cricket. We know we haven't played up to potential whatever the reasons might be - need to brush that aside. Would have bowled first. But it's not a bad thing against a side like Afghanistan who look to put up runs on the board," said Kohli at the toss.
The Afghanistan Challenge
More than their opposition, Virat Kohli's team will be focussing on their own playing XI after making some very criticised choices in the defeat to New Zealand on Sunday.
Suryakumar Yadav was injured and Ishan Kishan came to bat in his place while Shardul Thakur replaced the out of form Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Ishan though was not slotted in Surya's spot and the management chose to displace Rohit Sharma from his opening role and got Ishan to partner KL Rahul. Ishan scored all of 4 runs from the 8 balls he faced and India were reduced to 11/1 in 2.5 overs, after being put into bat first.
Will India play Ishan today? Will he open again? We will know at the toss that's scheduled to take place at 7pm IST.
India Eye Redemption Run
Two defeats in two outings so far in this 2021 T20 World Cup and pre-tournament favourites India are staring at an early exit from the tournament.
Starting today, they have three more Group 2 matches left as they play Afghanistan, Scotland and then Namibia. Needless to say, Virat Kohli and his men need to win all three matches, and that too by a big margin, and then hope New Zealand suffers an upset defeat at the hands of the same three teams. Pakistan, having won each of their four matches so far, became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals on Tuesday night.
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