ICC T20 World Cup 2021: India beat Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday with 66 runs to keep its campaign alive in the tournament, but its chances of reaching the semifinals remain bleak.
Rohit Sharma returned with KL Rahul to open the batting, which made a huge difference for Team India (AP Photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- India (210/2) beat Afghanistan (144/7 in 20 overs) with 66 runs in Abu Dhabi
- India’s 66-run win helped them reduce their net run rate from -1.609 to +0.073. to improve
- India have yet to win their games against Scotland and Namibia to have a chance at the semi-finals
India got back on the road to success on Wednesday when it finally opened its account by beating Afghanistan in a Super 12 encounter of 66 runs to keep its campaign alive at the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup.
India rode on excellence from Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Ravichandran Ashwin to claim their first campaign win in 3 games.
The men in blue have moved up one place ahead of Namibia in fourth place, but have yet to win their last two games and depend on other results to qualify for the semi-finals. However, the big win helped them improve their net run rate from -1.609 to +0.073 which will further improve their chances.
Afghanistan managed to hit 144 for 7 in 20 overs after India scored 210 for 2 thanks to the daring half centuries of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul while Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant also played key cameos to help the team to achieve their second highest place overall at T20 World Championships.
IND vs. AFG, T20 WM: Highlights
Ravichandran Ashwin (2 for 14), Mohammed Shami (3 for 32), Ravindra Jadeja (1 for 19) and Jasprit Bumrah (1 for 25) put in the wickets and crowned an all-round performance by Virat Kohli’s side after the last Month two heavy defeats.
Previously, Rohit Sharma had brought his carefree elegance to the table, while KL Rahul was class as always in India’s impressive overall rating of 210 for 2 against Afghanistan in their indispensable Super 12 game in Abu Dhabi.
While yet to endure criticism for flattering Pakistan and New Zealand in order to deceive, Rohit (74 balls out of 47) and Rahul (69 balls out of 48) mocked the inexperienced attack on Afghanistan by making a Record 140 runs for the opening stand.
Pandya (35 not out of 13 balls) and Pant (27 not out of 13 balls) then hit 63 runs in 3.3 overs to make the total beyond Afghanistan’s reach after being told by Mohammad Nabi to hit first.
210 was also the highest total for this edition of the T20 World Cup, but one can only hope that it won’t be two games too late for Team India to face Scotland and Namibia in Dubai on November 5th and 8th respectively.
Click here for IndiaToday.in’s full coverage of the corona pandemic.
एक टिप्पणी भेजें