India win by eight wickets. What a fine performance by India. Rohit Sharma lead from the front and now Virat Kohli finishes off it in style. Kohli finishes unbeaten on 55 while Rohit smashed 131. Jasprit Bumrah scalped 4/39. India register their second win of the CWC 2023.
A wicket here for Rashid Khan and Afghanistan. Too late for Afghanistan, but Rashid will still take it. End of a fine knock by Rohit Sharma. He departs for 131 off just 84 balls, 16 fours and five sixes during his knock.
Halfway through and India looks all set for a big win. The Men in Blue now need 71 more runs to win this game. Rohit Sharma looks in fine flow and is not holding back. Only a miracle will help Afghanistan bounce back now.
Rashid Khan strikes for Afghanistan. Finally a breakthrough for Afghanistan. End of a fine first wicket stand as Rashid accounts for Ishan Kishan. This brings Virat Kohli to the crease now.
Hundred up for Indian captain Rohit Sharma. This is the fastest century in World Cup by an Indian batsman, a century off just 63 balls for Rohit Sharma. Not only this, Rohit now holds the record of most centuries in ICC Cricket World Cup history as well.
That's hundred up for India and in just 12 overs. Openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan are off to a fine start. And now, Ishan is trying to score as well. India well on course for a big win.
Fifty up for Rohit Sharma. He has gone all guns blazing. Half-century off 30 balls for the Indian captain as India are off to a flying start. Rohit is dealing in sixes and fours and treating the Delhi crowd to his majestic stroke making.
Runs coming thick and fast for India as fifty is already up for the Men in Blue. Rohit Sharma has done the bulk of the scoring and has raced into the 40s while Ishan Kishan is happy to play the second fiddle. Fine start this for India.
India begin their chase with 12 runs coming off Rohit Sharma's bat while Ishan Kishan is yet to get off the mark. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mujeeb ur Rahman have started the proceedings for Afghanistan.
So, Afghanistan finish 18 runs short of the 300-run mark. At one stage it looked like they might get there but still a fine job considering Afghanistan were 63/3 in 13.1 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai and Hashmatullah Shahidi then added 121 runs for the fourth wicket that set to the tone for a decent target. For India, Jasprit Bumrah scalped 4/39.
India and Afghanistan meet in what is expected to be quite an interesting encounter. The host nation began their campaign in the ICC Cricket World Cup with a statement win over five-time champs Australia, although it did not come without a hiccup. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul saved the day for India with a record partnership that saw the Men in Blue from 2/3 to win the game comfortably in the end. Afghanistan on the other hand, were handed a heavy defeat by Bangladesh in a game where their batting order completely failed despite batters at the top showing some promise. On paper, India are outright favourites to win this game but Rohit Sharma and his team will be well aware of the challenge which the Afghans can bring to the table, especially their spinners--Rashid Khan and Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman. Rashid out of the two is more experienced and has been a stalwart of the game, especially in the shortest format. Plus with cricketers like Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Rahmat Shah, Afghanistan can hope to have a good start with the willow in hand as well. India vs Afghanistan ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Preview: Likely Playing XIs, Key Players, H2H and Other Things You Need To Know About IND vs AFG CWC Match in Delhi.
The track at the Arun Jaitley Stadium is an absolute belter with South Africa and Sri Lanka scoring 700+ runs in their first match here, a while ago. The same can be expected today as well with both teams having skilled batters who can hit the ball a long way. Spinners might find it tough to bowl on this track and contain the flow of runs and hence, India might have Mohammed Shami back in the XI in place of Ravichandran Ashwin. Not to forget, fans would look forward to a Virat Kohli vs Naveen-ul-Haq showdown with the two being involved in an ugly on-spat earlier this year in the IPL.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Suryakumar Yadav, Shardul Thakur
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Rahman, Riaz Hassan, Noor Ahmad