Suryakumar Yadav’s enterprising batting and Jasprit Bumrah’s reliability with the ball helped India kickstart their Super 8s campaign with a clinical 47-run victory against Afghanistan at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. Opting to bat, India lost early wickets but Suryakumar led the team’s revival with a 28-ball 53 and put on a 60-run fifth wicket stand off only 37 balls with Hardik Pandya (32 off 24). A target of 182 proved beyond Afghanistan’s reach as they were bowled out for 134, with Bumrah’s 3 for 7 off four overs being complemented by the other bowlers.
The difference: Suryakumar in the middle overs
Rashid Khan delivered key strikes in the middle overs but Suryakumar helped India forward with his busy approach in the middle overs. He employed the sweep shot to good effect and ensured Afghanistan did not get ahead despite India losing four wickets inside 11 overs. Coming to the crease in the eighth over, Suryakumar scored 41 off 21 deliveries in the 7-15 overs phase, which facilitated a platform for India to capitalise in the death. In contrast, Afghanistan kept losing wickets and couldn’t find a batter in the Suryakumar mould to transfer the pressure back on India. Although the difference between the teams in this phase was 11 runs, the pressure of the required run rate hovered over Afghanistan and they finished well short.
INDIA
Powerplay: Rohit falls early but India start well on slow pitch
Phase score – 47/1 [RR: 7.83, 4s/6s: 5/1]
On a wicket where the ball wasn’t coming easily onto the bat, the Indian openers weren’t able to score as freely as they would have liked. Fazalhaq Farooqi conceded only five runs in the opening over, which included an edge off Rohit Sharma’s bat that travelled to the boundary after a misfield. Mohammad Nabi bowled the second over and kept it tight, giving away only four runs. Afghanistan lost a review at the start of the third over when Fazalhaq Farooqi thought he had Rohit out leg-before but the ball had pitched outside leg. But he tasted success a short while later, with Rohit falling in his attempt to force the pace. Rishabh Pant got off the mark with a flick for a four off the left-arm seamer and got three off the first ball from Nabi that he faced. Kohli then kept himself and the fielders busy with a slew of twos, before hitting a short of length delivery from Naveen-ul-Haq for a straight six. Pant reverse-swept Nabi for a four before being put down by Naveen in the deep and the ball went for a boundary. Pant made it a hat-trick of fours to help India end the powerplay on a good note.
Middle overs: Rashid strikes but Surya powers India’s progress
Phase score – 79/3 [RR: 8.77, 4s/6s: 6/3]
Rashid brought himself on soon after the powerplay and made an immediate impact, ending a brisk 43-run stand, as Pant was out lbw trying to reverse-sweep a full delivery and took a review with him. Kohli fell in Rashid’s next over, handing a catch to long off looking to go over cover. Suryakumar Yadav ended the over with a well-placed sweep shot for a four. Shivam Dube didn’t take long to tee off against spin, hitting a six straight over Noor Ahmad’s head. Suryakumar, with a favourable matchup against Rashid, attacked the legspinner as he struck a four and a six off him in the 11th over. But Dube fell in the same over, trapped in front, with Afghanistan having to use the review to get the decision in their favour. Pandya drilled a drive through cover off Naveen for his first boundary before an audacious whip-sweep off Azmatullah Omarzai gave Suryakumar another four, helping India past 100 in the process. Pandya saw through Rashid’s final over and even struck a four off the final ball, as the Afghanistan captain finished with 3-26, and then Suryakumar struck a straight six off Omarzai.
Death overs: Surya, Hardik help India post competitive total
Phase score – 55/4 [RR: 11.00, 4s/6s: 5/3]
Pandya went inside out over cover for a four, followed by a thumping straight six off Noor in the 16th over, which yielded 12 runs. The half-century stand was raised in the next over, off 35 balls, after which Suryakumar hit a six and a four off Farooqi to bring up a 27-ball 50. The left-armer had the last laugh though, as Suryakumar mistimed a slower delivery to hand a catch in the deep. Pandya went over deep midwicket off Naveen for his second six and then used a review to have a leg-before decision reversed. But he didn’t last too long after that, handing a catch in the deep trying to slice Naveen through the off side. Ravindra Jadeja hit a four off Farooqi but the bowler got him out with a slow bouncer, picking up his fourth three-wicket haul in this World Cup. Axar Patel struck two fours off Naveen in the final over to help India finish with 180-plus.
AFGHANISTAN
Powerplay: Bumrah, Axar make early inroads
Phase score – 35/3 [RR: 5.83, 4s/6s: 2/2]
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, entering this game with a rich vein of form, got going in the opening over with a four over mid off and a six over long on off Arshdeep Singh. But India’s bowling spearhead Bumrah, bowling the second over, kept it slow and wide of Gurbaz to have him edge to the ‘keeper, and conceded only one run. Ibrahim Zadran found the gap past point for a four off Arshdeep and the seamer was unlucky not to pick up a wicket next ball as Kohli put down the catch. Axar, however, ensured Ibrahim’s stay was a short one, getting him caught at cover, and started his spell with a wicket-maiden. Hazratullah Zazai got a leading edge to give Bumrah his second wicket. Azmatullah Omarzai got off the mark by edging Bumrah for a four but he had figures of 2-5 after two overs. Axar was hit for a six off the last ball of the powerplay but Afghanistan’s scoring rate was under six at the end of the sixth over.
Middle overs: India tighten the screws on Afghanistan
Phase score – 66/2 [RR: 7.33, 4s/6s: 2/3]
Pandya started his spell with an overpitched delivery to Omarzai which was hit for a four. But he was tidy otherwise, conceding only five runs in his first over. Axar’s third over yielded only seven runs as India continued to keep it tight. Kuldeep Yadav, coming into the side in place of Mohammed Siraj, did not start well, bowling a no-ball and being hit for a four off the next ball by Gulbadin Naib. Jadeja had an expensive start as well, struck for a first-ball six by Omarzai. But having reached only 66/3 at the halfway stage and needing to score at 11.41 in the second half of their innings, the pressure was on Afghanistan. This pressure resulted in two more wickets going down as Naib and Omarzai fell to Kuldeep and Jadeja respectively looking for big hits. Najibullah Zadran struck a six off Pandya in the 15th over, but with 81 needed off the last five overs, India were well ahead in the game.
Death overs: Bumrah, Arshdeep wrap up clinical win
Phase score – 33/5 [RR: 6.60, 4s/6s: 2/2]
Bumrah returned to the attack and picked up the wicket of Najibullah, getting him to slice a catch to point. Nabi struck a six off Kuldeep but fell soon after to the wrist spinner, leaving Afghanistan seven down. Noor hit a four in the same over but Afghanistan were far behind, needing 63 off the last three overs. Rashid and Naveen got out off successive deliveries to Arshdeep. Afghanistan managed to bat their quota of 20 overs, although they were eventually bowled out, with Arshdeep dismissing Noor off the last ball to pick up three.
Brief scores: India 181/8 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 53, Hardik Pandya 32; Rashid Khan 3-26, Fazalhaq Farooqi 3-33) beat Afghanistan 134 in 20 overs (Azmatullah Omarzai 26; Jasprit Bumrah 3-7, Arshdeep Singh 3-36, Kuldeep Yadav 2-32) by 47 runs.
What next for the teams?
It’s a short turnaround for the teams in the Super 8s stage, with India taking on Bangladesh in Antigua on June 22 and Afghanistan facing Australia on the same day in St Vincent.
