India register fourth win
Southampton: Mohammed Shami emerged hero as the Bengal pacer took a hat-trick in the final over to help India script a narrow 11 runs win against Afghanistan.
Brief scores: India 224/8 beat Afghanistan 213 all (Md Nabi 52; Md Shami 4/40) by 11 runs.
Afghans still in hunt
Southampton: With 68 runs required of the final 10 overs, a win can be expected from the Afghans against a stronger Indian side. Mohammad Nabi is batting at 25 while Najibullah Zadran is at 17.
India claw back
Southampton: India clawed back in the match with experience and bowling finesse at the end of 30 overs. Afghanistan somehow managed to go past 100 losing four wickets. The match was slowly titling towards India.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 107/4 (Mohammad Nabi 0 (5b), Asghar Afghan 1 (1b); Hardik Pandya 6-1-31-1, Jasprit Bumrah 6-1-19-2)
Afghanistan march slowly
Afghanistan though made a sedate start, they concentrated on not losing wickets and were placed decent at 71/2 after 20 overs.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 71/2 (Hashmatullah Shahidi 3 (15b), Rahmat Shah 19 (39b); Kuldeep Yadav 4-0-10-0, Hardik Pandya 4-1-25-1)
Afghanistan cautious
Afghanistan made a cautious start losing just one wicket in the first 10 overs. Gulbadan Naib on 10 and Rahmat Shah on 5 were at the crease.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 37/1 (Gulbadin Naib 10 (24b), Rahmat Shah 5 (12b); Yuzvendra Chahal 2-0-8-0, Hardik Pandya 1-0-8-0)
India finish at 224/8
Southampton: Kohli apart, Indian batsmen looked ordinary and failed to bat the way they did in their last few matches.
Brief scores: India 224/8 (Kohli 67 (63b 5×4 0x6), K Jadhav 52 (68b); Md Nabi 9-0-33-2)
Kohli India’s only shining light
Southampton: India have been restricted to just 175 at the loss of four wickets at the ned of 40 overs against Afghanistan here, Saturday.
Indian captain Virat Kohli was the Men in Blue’s only shining light before giving his wicket away to Mohammad Nabi at 67 (63b 5×4 0x6).
Brief scores
India 175/4 in 40 overs (MS Dhoni 22 (35b); Rashid Khan 7-0-33-0)
Virat to the rescue
Southampton: Captain Virat Kohli’s half-century has dragged India to a sluggish 133 at the loss of three wickets at the end of 30 overs against Afghanistan in the 2019 ICC World Cup at the Rose Bowl cricket ground here, Saturday.
MS Dhoni has joined Kohli on the crease after Vijay Shankar got out for 29 (41b 2×4 0x6).
Brief scores:
India 133/3 in 30 overs. (Kohli 29 (41b 2×4 0x6), Nabi 6-0-20-1)
India’s slow start continues
Southampton: Having lost openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, India have been restricted to 86 at the loss of two wickets at the end of 20 overs against Afghanistan here at the Rose Bowl cricket ground.
Skipper Virat Kohli is on 44 (40b) and is joined by Vijay Shankar who is on 8 (17b).
Brief scores:
India 86/2 in 20 overs (Kohli 44, 40b; Mohammad Nabi 4-0-12-1)
India suffer Sharma blow
Southampton: India suffered an early blow after losing opener Rohit Sharma to an elusive Mujeeb Ur Rahman delivery here at the Rose Bowl cricket ground.
Captain Virat Kohli joins KL Rahul on the crease.
Brief scores:
India win toss, opt to bat first
Southampton: India aim to take another step closer to the semi-finals when they take on struggling Afghanistan at the Rose Bowl cricket stadium in Southampton here, Saturday.
Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first.
“Looks like a good, hard wicket,” said Kohli. “One forced change, Shami in for Bhuvi. The rest is same. Vijay Shankar brings a lot of balance, in the field he’s as good as anyone in the world. There’s a reason why he’s in our squad. Whether we are playing a team that’s strong or the team that’s coming through the ranks, our mindset is the same. We don’t take Afghanistan lightly, they are a dangerous side when they are on the groove. Focus is within our group on what we want to do as a side.”
“Good pitch so wanted to bat myself too. But it’s a long day. Hazratullah and Aftab are in, Noor Ali Zadran and Dawlat Zadran are not playing. It was good we batted all 50 overs the other day,” said Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib.
Teams
India XI: Rohit, Rahul, Kohli, Shankar, K. Jadhav, Dhoni, H. Pandya, Kuldeep, Shami, Chahal, Bumrah.
Afghanistan XI: Hazratullah, Gulbadin, Rahmat, Hashmatullah, Ikram, Afghan, Nabi, Najibullah, Rashid, Aftab, Mujeeb.
PNN