Hitman goes guns blazing
New Delhi, October 11
The result was never in doubt. The only thing that was in everyone’s mind was how many overs India, led by Rohit Sharma, would take to complete the formalities here today.
It happened by the end of the 35th over when Virat Kohli, playing on his home ground, thumped Azmatullah Omarzai straight down to seal an eight-wicket win for India. The match against Afghanistan was always viewed as a chance for the Indian team to fill their scoring boots and boost their net run rate. The win boosted India’s NRR from +0.883 to +1.50.
Rohit Sharma oozed class en route a record-breaking 100, leading India to an eight-wicket win over Afghanistan in the ODI WC in New Delhi.
Set a target of 273, the hosts got off to a flier as Rohit lit up the Arun Jaitley Stadium with plenty of sumptuous hits to the fence. India raced to 94 runs in 10 overs. By then, Rohit had already struck four big sixes to race to 76. Once the dye was cast, Afghanistan’s bowling unit, despite having the likes of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman and Mohammad Nabi, was put under severe pressure.
By the time Rohit’s innings came to an end — he was castled by Rashid while trying to sweep — the skipper, who is appearing in his third World Cup, had racked up records by the minute.
His 100, coming off 63 balls, was the fastest World Cup ton by an Indian. He bettered former captain Kapil Dev’s 72-ball century that came against Zimbabwe at the 1983 World Cup. It was also Rohit’s seventh century in the event as he surpassed Sachin Tendulkar for the most hundreds at the World Cup.
Rohit’s intent was there to see from the beginning when he flat-batted left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi for a six over long-on. His opening partner Ishan Kishan, who came into this match on the back of scoring a duck against Australia, was very circumspect in his stroke-making. The duo constructed a fast-paced partnership of 156 runs for the opening wicket before Kishan was dismissed by Rashid with a wrong-one.
After Rohit was dismissed, Kohli took over, making an unbeaten 55. The former captain, along with Shreyas Iyer, brought the team home.
Earlier, skipper Hasmatullah Shahidi and Omarazai showed some resistance as Afghanistan recovered from 66/3 to post 272.
Shahidi scored 80 while Omarazai showed why the team rates him highly with a gutsy knock of 62 as the duo put together a stand of 121 runs for the fourth wicket. However, they lost wickets both at the start and at the end as Jasprit Bumrah, who was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/39, and Kuldeep Yadav, who only conceded 40 runs, kept a lid on the scoring.
“(It) was a good win for us, very important to get that momentum at the start of the tournament,” Rohit said.
NRR not a concern, asserts Bumrah
India’s eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan came with 15 overs to spare but pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah denied it was a planned ploy to boost their net run-rate in the World Cup group stage. The hosts are only the third team to win their first two games and they are sandwiched between New Zealand and Pakistan at the top of the standings.
Net run-rate could come into play later in the tournament, but Bumrah denied it was a factor in India’s performance. “Not at all. We are not looking at it from the beginning (of the tournament. (Besides) we did not know that Rohit will give us such a headstart,” Bumrah said. PTI
It’s all in the past for Kohli & Naveen
Indian superstar Virat Kohli and Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq, who were involved in an ugly spat in the IPL earlier this year, let bygones be bygones with a handshake and a hug today.
“It (what happened) was always in the ground, it was nothing outside the ground. People make it big. They need that stuff for their followers. He said (today) ‘we are done with that’ and I said ‘yes, we are done with that’. We shook hands and hugged,” Naveen said. PTI
63 Balls needed for Rohit to get to his century — it’s the fastest for India in men’s ODI World Cups. The previous record belonged to Kapil Dev for his 72-ball effort vs Zimbabwe in 1983
9 The Indian skipper also joined Australia’s David Warner in taking the least number of innings (19) to complete 1,000 runs in World Cup history
31 Rohit’s ton against Afghanistan was his 31st overall, taking him past Australian legend Ricky Ponting. He is now behind Virat Kohli (47) and Sachin Tendulkar (49) in the history of ODI cricket
7 Rohit’s century also saw him surpass Tendulkar (6) for the most hundreds — seven — in World Cup history
Scoreboard
Afghanistan
R Gurbaz c Thakur b Pandya 21
I Zadran c Rahul b Bumrah 22
R Shah lbw b Thakur 16
H Shahidi lbw b Yadav 80
A Omarzai b Pandya 62
M Nabi lbw b Bumrah 19
N Zadran c Kohli b Bumrah 2
R Khan c Yadav b Bumrah 16
M Rahman not out 10
N Haq not out 9
Extras: (b 2, lb 3, nb 2, w 8) 15
Total: (8 wickets, 50 overs) 272
FOW: 1-32, 2-63, 3-63, 4-184, 5-225, 6-229, 7-235, 8-261
Bowling O M R W
Jasprit Bumrah 10 0 39 4
Mohammed Siraj 9 0 76 0
Hardik Pandya 7 0 43 2
Shardul Thakur 6 0 31 1
Kuldeep Yadav 10 0 40 1
Ravindra Jadeja 8 0 38 0
India
R Sharma b Khan 131
I Kishan c Zadran b Khan 47
V Kohli not out 55
S Iyer not out 25
Extras: (b 1, lb 4, w 10) 15
Total: (2 wickets, 35 overs) 273
FOW: 1-156, 2-205
Bowling O M R W
Fazalhaq Farooqi 6 0 50 0
Mujeeb Ur Rahman 8 0 64 0
Naveen-ul-Haq 5 0 31 0
Azmatullah Omarzai 4 0 34 0
Mohammad Nabi 4 0 32 0
Rashid Khan 8 0 57 2
Player of the Match: Rohit Sharma
Today’s tie
Teams Venue Time
Australia vs South Africa Lucknow 2 pm
