India's T20 World Cup Gets Underway With 66 Run Win Over Afghanistan

Cricket Image for India's T20 World Cup Gets Underway With 66 Run Win Over Afghanistan (Image Source: AFP)

A dominating batting performance followed by disciplined bowling helped India defeat Afghanistan by 66 runs in the 33rd match of the T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi. With this win, India has also registered its first win of the Super 12 stage kept their hopes alive for a place in the semi-finals. 

Chasing a massive total of 211, Afghanistan lost both their openers early but kept the attacking approach on and scored 47 inside the powerplay. However, none of the batters could hold on to their starts as India kept the bowling tight and picked wickets regularly. 

Keeping in mind the NRR, Afghanistan batters kept hitting the boundaries to decrease the margin. Mohammad Nabi scored 35 from 32 while Karim Janat smashed 42 off just 22 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes. 

For India, Mohammad Shami picked three wickets, comeback man R Ashwin got two while Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja got one each. 

Earlier, after being asked to bat first, India were off to a solid start as Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul smashed 53 runs inside the powerplay. 

They didn't stop even when the restrictions were lifted as Rohit-Rahul shared their fourth-century stand in T20Is. Sharma smashed 74 off 47 balls with the help of eight fours and three sixes while Rahul hit 69 in 48 balls, including six fours and two sixes. 

After the 140-run stand got broken in the 15th over, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya took over from their and added another 63 runs from just 21 balls. Pant smashed 27 in 13 balls while Pandya smacked 35 off 13 balls. 

Brief Scorecard:

India - 210/2 
Afghanistan - 144/7