Shami’s hattrick seals India victory over Afghanistan
ICC Men’s World Cup Cricket at The Ageas Hampshire Bowl, Somerset
India Vs Afghanistan
India 224-8 (50ov) Rahul 30 0ff 53, 2 fours, Kohli 67off 63, 5 fours, Jadhav 52 off 68, 3 fours, 1 six, Gulbadin 2-51, Mujeeb 1-26, Nabi 2-33, Alam 1-54, Rashid 1-38, Rahamat 1-22.
Afghanistan 213 ao ( 49.5ov) Rahamat 36 off 63, 3 fours, Nabi 52 off 55, 4 fours, 1 six, Bumrah 2-39, Shami 4-40, Chaha; 2-36, H Pandya 2-51.
India won the toss and decided to bat.
India win by 11 runs.
Mohammad Shami’s hat-trick wins it for India, who were defending 16 in last over. Burmah takes two wickets in an over as Afghanistan fall from 106-2 to 106-4.
Earlier Indian opener Rohit Sharma is bowled by Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman for one and Kohli top scores with 67 but India struggle to find boundary in 224-8 as both spinner Nabi and Gulbadin take two wickets each. At one point India looked in danger of losing when Afghanistan struck a boundary off the first ball of the final over to move within 12 runs of victory. Shami had Mohamma Nabi caught on the boundary for 52 before demolishing the stumps of numbers 10 and 11 with Yorkers.
Afghanistan who never beaten India and whose only previous World Cup win was against Scotland in 2015, worked their way towards victory but after a middle order wobble saw them fall from 1062- to 166-6. Nabi successfully overturned a lbw decision in the 48th over and managed to take his side to within two blows for victory before Shami’s hat-trick.
Afghanistan eliminated with defeat and India move to third with 9 points from 5 games.
Afghanistan captain Gulbadin said “ We bowled really well. We did well in batting, credit to Bumrah for how he bowled in the last two or three overs.
The total was not that much but in the middle order batsmen should go longer and take responsibility”.
Indian Captain Virat Kohli said “ This game was important for us. It didn’t go as planned. When things don’t go your way you need to show character and bounce back”.