Suryakumar Yadav (53) smashed a brilliant 27-ball fifty as he led India to a comfortable 47-run victory over Afghanistan during the Super 8s stage of the T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval.
Afghanistan restricted India to 90-4 after 10 overs but Suryakumar, who smashed five boundaries and three sixes, helped his side post a commanding 181-8 in Bridgetown after they won the toss and elected to bat.
Rashid Khan (3-26), who took his first ever T20I wicket against India, and Fazalhaq Farooqi (3-33) finished with three wickets apiece but struggled to stop India’s middle-order from powering on.
In reply, India’s bowlers skittled Afghanistan for 134 all out with Jasprit Bumrah (3-7) becoming the leading wicket-taker for his side and Arshdeep Singh (3-36) taking consecutive wickets in the 18th over.
Afghanistan’s batters struggled to form a match-winning partnership, losing their final five wickets for only 32 runs as Rashid’s side suffered back-to-back losses.
The win takes India to the top of the Group 1 table with two points with Afghanistan behind in second place. Rohit Sharma’s side are searching for a first T20 World Cup success since winning the inaugural tournament in 2007.
Suryakumar helps India remain unbeaten
Afghanistan reduced India to 90-4 after left-arm pacer Farzalhaq Farooqi (3-33) removed Sharma (8) while Rashid trapped Rishabh Pant (20) and Shivam Dube (10) lbw, before having Virat Kohli (24) caught long-off by Mohammad Nabi.
Suryakumar’s 28-ball cameo pulled India to 150-5 but his 60-run partnership with Hardik Pandya (32) was brought to an end after he toe-ended a cutter from Fazalhaq that Nabi pocketed at long-off.
Hardik launched a slot ball from Naveen-ul-Haq (1-40) for an 98-metre six but missed out on a wide ball that he carved out to the sweeper in the 18th over.
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Rishabh Pant had a massive let-off as Naveen-ul-Haq dropped an easy catch and pushed it into the boundary for a four
Fazalhaq claimed the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja (7) before he caused any real damage with a slower, short ball to leave India 165-7.
This total seemed somewhat chaseable for Afghanistan after they showed glimpses of strong batting earlier in the tournament, but the final over went for 14 runs after Axar Patel (12) smashed a couple of boundaries and a nervy Naveen-ul-Haq bowling two wides allowing India to climb to a strong 181-8.
Ruthless India expose Afghanistan
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Jasprit Bumrah claimed three wickets for just seven runs from four overs against Afghanistan
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (11) made a positive start to Afghanistan’s reply, hitting Arshdeep for a boundary and a six in the first over, but was dismissed by a brilliant cutter from Bumrah in the following over.
Ibrahim Zadran (8) picked out India’s captain at extra cover off the bowling of Axar Patel (1-15) and offered Kohli some reprieve who dropped him at point on six earlier.
Bumrah fired in another cutter that saw the end of Hazratullah Zazai (2) to leave the opposition faltering on 23-3 before the end of the powerplay.
Gulbadin (17) and Azmatullah Omarzai (26) provided Afghanistan with some much-needed middle-order impetus, sharing a 44-run partnership to pull their side to a modest 67-3.
However, their batting continued to unravel after Gulbadin toe-ended Kuldeep’s googly while Omarzai holed Axar out to long-on.
Najibullah Zadran (19) was caught by Arshdeep at short third to gift Bumrah another wicket with Mohammad Nabi (14) holing out to Jadeja at deep mid-wicket to leave Afghanistan in trouble at 114-7.
Arshdeep took back-to-back wickets in the 18th over in dismissing Rashid (2) cheaply and having Naveen-ul-Haq caught behind but his hat-trick ball was edged behind by Farooqi for four.
The India pacer took a wicket with the final ball of the match as Noor Ahmed got a thick outside edge to cover where Rohit completed the catch with a huge smile on his face.
What’s next?
India come up against Bangladesh on Saturday June 22 (3.30pm) in Antigua while Afghanistan face Australia on Sunday June 23 (1.30am) in Saint Vincent.
Catch every match from the T20 World Cup, including the final in Barbados on Saturday June 29, live on Sky Sports.