Abu Dhabi: A formidable India led by their stylish openers Rohit Sharma (74, 47b, 8×4, 3×6) and KL Rahul (69, 48b, 6×4, 2×6) 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 Wednesday.
It could well be a case of joining the party two games too late but a solid batting show to first score 210/2 and then bowl the disciplined lines to restrict Afghanistan to 144/7 kept their billion plus fans interested.
For the Afghans, Karim Janat (42 n o, 22b, 3×4, 2×6) and Mohammad Nabi (35, 32b, 2×4, 1×6) batted well and save their side from being humiliation. The duo put together 57 runs for the sixth wicket after they were reduced to 69/5 in 11.5 overs.
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 semifinals 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 and Rahul 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 the other Afghans were pedestrian at best, leaving Hardik Pandya (35 n o, 13b, 4×4, 2×6) and Rishabh Pant (27 n o, 13c, 1×4, 3×6) 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 (2/14), playing his first international game in six months and white ball international after four years, was too good for the Afghans.
Jasprit Bumrah (1/25) was steady as usual while Ravindra Jadeja (1/19) looked decent. Mohammed Shami (3/32) 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.
Brief scores: India 210/2 (Rohit Sharma 74, KL Rahul 69, Hardik Pandya 35 n o, Rishabh Pant 27 n o) beat Afghanistan 144/7 (Karim Janat 42 n o, Mohammad Nabi 35; Mohammed Shami 3/32, Ravichandran Ashwin 2/14) by 66 runs.