Mohammed Shami became the second Indian to take a World Cup ha-trick as the Virat Kohli-led side clinched a thrilling 11-run win. Credit to Afghanistan though. It fought, slipped and fought again but fell short in the end. Mohammad Nabi’s fighting fifty may have been in a losing cause but Gulbadin Naib and Co. have given an excellent account of themselves.
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16 needed off the last over. Nabi gets a boundary first ball. Gets his fifty. Denies a single next ball. 12 needed off 4 balls. GONE! Nabi holes out to Hardik Pandya. Oh what a match! What a contest. GONE! Aftab Alam cleaned up. Two in two. Shami on a hat-trick. He gets it. First hat-trick of World Cup 2019.
Three runs from that Shami over. And a close lbw call off Nabi which was turned over by DRS. India needs 21 off 12 balls. Bumrah to bowl the penultimate over.
STUMPED! Rashid has been stumped and India have got another one. Seven runs and a wicket. Ikram Ali Khil new batsman at the crease. SIX! Nabi has walloped a Bumrah short ball for six. Eight off the over. Afghanistan needs 24 runs in 18 balls.
Bumrah is back. Good over. Just four from it in the end. Afghanistan needs 49 runs in 36 balls. Shami into his eighth. Nabi is keeping Afghanistan in the hunt - gets a boundary first ball, again. Nine off the 45th. Afghanistan need 40 runs in 30 balls. At this stage, it’s advantage Afghanistan.
Pandya bowling out. The man with the golden arm? You bet. Pandya gets rid of Zadran. Wicket No. 6 goes down for Afghanistan. Rashid in next. Four runs and a wicket from it. Afghanistan need 56 runs in 48 balls. Chahal into his ninth. Two dots to start things off. A brace and a single. AFG 172/6 after 43 overs.
Pandya back into the attack. Two braces and two singles. Six from it. The match is hanging in balance here, folks. Start of the final powerplay. Shami to continue. Starts the over with a boundary. Good over for Afghanistan. Eight from it. AFG 165/5 after 41 overs.
What a strike. Zadran has lofted a half-volley over mid-off with immaculate timing. Afghanistan down, but not out yet. 150 comes up. Eight runs from it. AFG 151/5 after 39 overs.
Last over for Kuldeep. Can he pick up a wicket? No he doesn’t. Three runs to wrap up his spell: 10-0-39-0. Afghanistan needs 82 runs in 72 balls.
Kuldeep back into the attack. Seven off the over - couple of braces and three singles. Afghanistan needs 88 runs in 84 balls. Md. Shami to have a crack now. Three from it. AFG 140/5 after 37 overs.
Pandya to bowl his eighth over. Four runs to end the 34th. The required run-rate has gone past 6 now. Chahal to continue. Nabi gets a boundary first ball: excellent start to the over. Bowled’ em. There’s the breakthrough; Stanikzai has been cleaned up. Najibullah Zadran joins Nabi. AFG 130/5 after 35 overs.
Pandya continues. Six off his over. India has its nose in front, but just. Nabi’s wicket will be crucial here. Chahal back into the attack. Nabi gets one away to deep backward point for four. AFG 121/4 after 33 overs.
Nabi in the middle. Pandya back into the attack. Just one run off it. India sense a chance to close this game down. One more over for Bumrah. Kohli persisting with his strike seamer. Just a single to end the over. Three from it. AFG 110/4 after 31 overs.
Kuldeep into the eighth over. That’s a tight one from the chinaman: just two off it. Bumrah continues. Hue appeal for lbw off the first ball. NOT GIVEN ! Kohli is fuming. But he gets his man, this time. The short ball does the trick for Bumrah; Rahmat holes out to Chahal. Asghar Afghan at the crease. Another one bites the dust. Bumrah turning the tables - Shahidi is out caught and bowled. AFG 106/4 after 29 overs.
Rahmat and Shahidi now growing in confidence as evident from Rahmat’s pull shot off Kuldeep for four. Do we have a huge upset in the offing here? Kohli has turned to Bumrah. That’s the 100 up for Afghanistan. AFG 104/2 after 27 overs.
FOUR! Shahidi cuts it and cuts it fine, gets four for it. India under pressure? Few more runs and they’ll feel the heat. Halfway through the innings: AFG 91/2 after 25 overs.
Chahal back into the attack. A dot to end of the 23rd over. Afghanistan needs 141 runs. Kuldeep to continue. Kulcha in tandem, at last. Three from the over. AFG 87/2 after 24 overs.
Four singles off that Kuldeep over. His figures so far: 4-0-10-0. Pandya to continue. SHOT! Rahmat ruins a fine over by driving one through the covers for four. Kuldeep now concedes a four by going short; Shahidi pulls it away with disdain. Seven from the over. AFG 83/2 after 22 overs.
Kuldeep continues to keep a lid on the scoring from his end - just a one from his third over. Hardik’s been on the money in his second spell: after a wicket-taking over, bowls a maiden. AFG 67/2 after 19 overs.
Jaffa! Kuldeep ends his second over with a ripper. How did that miss the edge? A slider wraps up the 16th before DRINKS! Hardik returns after the break. GONE! The short ball gets him the wicket - Naib caught by Vijay Shankar. Shahidi in next. AFG 66/2 after 17 overs.
Kuldeep Yadav into the attack. End of the 14th over, and Kuldeep’s off to a disciplined start. Brilliant from Chahal as well as he concedes only one run. Pressure building on the Afghan batsmen: three runs coming in the last three overs. AFG 57/1 after 15 overs.
Rahmat gets his first boundary off Chahal. End of the 11th; five off it. Finally, a good-looking shot from Naib for four. Follows it up with another boundary to take Afghanistan past 50. 12 runs off that over. Chahal continues. Only one from it. AFG 55/1 after 13 overs.
Bumrah continues. Five from the over. Afghanistan needs 199 runs. Yuzi Chahal into the attack. Good start - only three in the over. Hardik Pandya has been introduced into the attack. A wide slip for him. FIVE WIDES ... End of the first powerplay. AFG 37/1 after 10 overs.
WICKET! That was long coming from Shami. Zazai goes for an ugly swipe and loses his stumps. The left-hander departs for 10. Rahmat Shah in at 3. Good over from Md. Shami. AFG 21/1 after 7 overs.
Shami into his third over. Two leg byes and as many singles from the over. Bumrah keeping it tight from the other end. A brace and four dots from that over. AFG 18/0 after 6 overs.
This is a trial by pace for Zazai. India have reviewed for a lbw against Zazai. The ball’s pitching outside leg and the batsman survives. Shami is troubling the southpaw. Maiden from Shami. Oh, and India have lost their review by the way. There’s the edge. Bumrah, from the other end, found the edge but didn’t carry. Zazai gets four instead. Six from it. AFG 12/0 after 4 overs.
Gulbadin Naib and Zazai to start the chase. Shami with the new ball. Brilliant from Shami. Fast, probing and effective. Just a single to get things underway. Bumrah from the other end. Four byes... Five off the over. AFG 6/0 after 2 overs.
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A comprehensive bowling performance, on a sluggish pitch, sees Afghanistan restrict India to 224/8. Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav struck fifties but none of the other batsmen could convert the starts. Rashid, Nabi and Mujeeb strangled the Indian middle-order. The big question now: Can Afghanistan chase down 225? We will find out soon.
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Naib to bowl the final over. Kedar one short of a patient half-century. Gets there with a couple , but with some help from the fielder who seems to have hurt himself. Bowled’em. Shami castled for one. Kedar follows suit: second wicket for Naib. Brilliant from Naib. Five runs and two wickets.
Naib back into the attack. Seven from the over. Brilliant considering India have Hardik at the crease. Kedar three shy of a 50. Aftab to bowl the penultimate over. Two singles to start the over. Hardik collects a brace... Rashid denies the Indian all-rounder a certain boundary. OUT! Hardik gone. Shami joins Kedar. IND 219/6 after 49 overs.
Rashid to bowl out. Kedar has been given out lbw. He reviews. Replays showing the ball missing the stumps. Kedar survives. Well bowled, Rashid. One for 38 for the leggie. IND 206/5 after 47 overs.
Aftab returns into the attack. Another boundary for Kedar; just whipped off the hips for some much-needed runs. SIX! One-handed maximum from Kedar brings up India’s 200. IND 205/5 after 46 overs.
Mujeeb has bowled out. 10-0-26-1. Six overs to go. Rashid Khan back into the attack. HARAKIRI, almost. Miscommunication between the batsmen nearly cost Dhoni his wicket. Doesn’t matter because Rashid has him stumped immediately after. Hardik Pandya walks out. Two runs and the big wicket of MS. IND 194/5 after 45 overs.
Aftab Alam back into the attack. Kedar pulls one away for four... didn’t quite get the timing on that but he’ll take it. The 50-run partnership comes up between Kedar and MS. Dhoni joins the act: lifts one over long-on for a one bounce four. 11 from the over. IND 190/4 after 43 overs .
Excellent bowling from Rashid, in stark contrast to the performance versus England... Just two from that over. Mujeeb back into the attack. Two from the over . IND 179/4 after 42 overs.
Rashid to continue. Three off the over. Six overs of spin still left. Dhoni and Kedar need to start targeting a bowler/s right about now. Naib into his seventh over. SHOT! Pulled away for four by Dhoni. India would need plenty of those. Nine from it. IND 175/4 after 40 overs .
Rashid Khan returns into the attack. Boundary at last; Kedar sweeps one to deep mid-wicket for four... slog swept that full ball for a much-needed four runs. Gulbadin Naib back into the attack. Spanked away for four. Dhoni cashes in on the pace. Good comeback. Just three singles off the next five. IND 163/4 after 38 overs.
Dhoni has crawled to 6 off 21 balls. He brings up the 150 with a single. Five off that Nabi over. He now has just one left. Meanwhile, Mujeeb has just bowled a one-run over. Last 5 overs, India have picked up just 16. IND 152/4 after 36 overs.
Nabi bowling superbly here. There’s turn on offer on this sluggish pitch and he’s making the most of it. A brace and three singles off his eighth. Mujeeb back into the attack . Three from it. IND 146/4 after 34 overs.
WICKET! Nabi has struck, again. This time it’s the big wicket of Kohli, who falls for 67. India struggling at 135/4. Kedar Jadhav joins Dhoni. Three singles and a wicket. Rahmat into his fifth. Just two off it. IND 138/4 after 32 overs.
Nabi back into the attack. Three runs from the over. Rahmat Shah, too, returns for a new spell. Kohli starts by collecting two off the first ball. Both batsmen happy to milk the ones and twos. Five from the over. IND 133/3 after 30 overs.
GONE! Rahmat traps Vijay in front. The batsman reviews but replays show umpire’s call. India have lost a third wicket. Dhoni joins Kohli. Two from the over. Rashid continues. Single and five dots off it. IND 125/3 after 28 overs.
Rahmat to continue. Whoa! Shankar has launched that one over deep extra cover for four; inside out hit. The partnership between Kohli and Shankar is now 50. Six from it. Three singles from Rashid’s fourth before Kohli dispatches the last ball to fine-leg for four. IND 122/2 after 26 overs.
Rahmat Shah into the attack. Vijay Shankar takes India past the 100-run mark with a cracking drive. Single to end the over. Rashid into his third. Good one - only four off it. IND 109/2 after 24 overs.
Kohli moves to 45 with a single. Nabi, in the meantime, continues to be economical - only six singles from it. Rashid continues. Kohli onto 49 with a brisk double. Het gets to his fifty with a single, does Kohli! This is Kohli’s 52nd ODI fifty. IND 98/2 after 22 overs.
Rashid Khan comes into the attack. Kohli welcomes him with a trademark drive for four. Huge appeal for lbw against Vijay Shankar. Not given. Afghanistan reviews, but replays confirm a huge inside edge. Terrible review that. Seven from the over. IND 86/2 after 20 overs.
The wicket’s slightly on the slower side which explains why Afghanistan opened with Mujeeb. Chahal and Kuldeep would love bowling on this wicket. India, meanwhile, going through a rebuilding phase. Naib and Nabi in tandem: Two and four runs from the 18th and 19th. IND 79/2 after 19 overs.
Naib continues. A wide and four singles from it. Nabi continues. Battle of two Sunrisers Hyderabad players. Two singles from it. IND 73/2 after 17 overs.
GONE! You just saw it coming, didn’t you? KL was getting fidgety and he perishes now, holing out to short third-man trying to play a reverse sweep off Nabi. Vijay Shankar in at 4. My colleague, Aashin, is buzzing in the newsroom. Two runs and a wicket. IND 66/2 after 15 overs.
Mohammad Nabi into the attack. Four from the over. Naib continues. Starts with a short ball. KL Rahul pulls it for a couple. Just three off the next five. IND 64/1 after 14 overs .
Mujeeb into his sixth; an extended first spell for the offie. Kohli finishes the over with a boundary to fine-leg. Eight from it. Gulbadin continues. 50 up for India with a single. Six off the over. IND 55/1 after 12 overs.
Gulbadin Naib into the attack. Kohli welcomes his counterpart with a glorious drive for three. KL has looked tentative so far. Five from the over. IND 41/1 after 10 overs.
A lovely spell of off-spin bowling from the young Mujeeb. Remember, he’s up against batsmen who have brought up on a healthy diet of spin. And yet Kohli and KL are showing Mujeeb the respect he deserves. Only two runs off his fifth over.
Mujeeb to continue. Two runs from that over: Mujeeb’s figures so far - 4-0-8-1. Aftab into his fourth over. Kohli showing his class with two back-to-back boundaries; Aftab strays on the pads and Kohli flicks him before carving the next ball square of the wicket. IND 34/1 after 8 overs.
Aftab continues. FOUR ! KL Rahul cuts one away for his first boundary of the match. Rahul got on top of that back-of-a-length ball and beat the cover fielder easily. STREAKY ! Outside edge races away to third-man for four. Second four for KL. Nine from the over.
Just a one run from that Mujeeb over. Both batsmen are off to a cautious start. Brilliant second over from Aftab so far: four dots. A maiden. Bowled em! Brilliant from Mujeeb: cleans up Rohit with a doosra. A rare failure for the right-hander. Kohli joins KL. Kohli off the mark straightaway. Five gone, IND 9/1
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to open the innings. Mujeeb-ur-Rahman to take the new ball. KL gets off the mark with a single. Rohit too opens his account with a brisk single. Good solid first over. Just three from it. Aftab Alam to share the new ball. A couple of runs for KL. Single to end the over. IND 6/0 after 2 overs.
Out come the teams for the respective national anthems. First up Afghanistan, followed by India.
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TOSS UPDATE| Virat Kohli has won the toss and India will bat first.
Kohli: “Vijay Shankar showed a lot of composure in the last game. Brings balance with bat and ball and he’s good as anyone in the world in the field. Whether we’re playing a team which is very strong or a team coming up the ranks, our mindset is the same. We can’t take Afghanistan lightly. They are a dangerous side when they get in the groove.”
Naib: “It will be a long day, looking forward to the end of the day. Noor Ali not playing, Hazrat in the side. Dawlat also not playing, Aftab in the side. Happy with batting performance against England, playing the fifty overs.”
India (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Hazratullah Zazai, Gulbadin Naib(c), Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Ali Khil(w), Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Aftab Alam, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
PITCH REPORT| Ramiz Raza reckons it’s a belter of a pitch, good for batting. There will be something in it for the spinners but overall, a great surface.
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India all-rounder Vijay Shankar is hopeful of retaining his place in the playing XI against Afghanistan| Shankar hopes to play
Rain has been the buzzword in this edition of the World Cup. Will the weather gods be merciful in Southampton or will India’s match vs Afghanistan be truncated due to rain?| Follow live weather updates
The ‘Men in Blue’ will wear an orange away jersey for their World Cup 2019 match against Afghanistan and England. We asked fans whether they think the new colour would bring the same luck to team India or not| WATCH - A new jersey colour for ‘Men in Blue’
With five straight losses, there are a lot of conspiracy theories being floated including one about Rashid’s strained relationship with Gulbadin| Rashid: ‘I don’t play for Gulbadin or cricket board, I play for Afghanistan’
The all-rounder who got hit in the nets on the toe said his injury has healed and he hopes to feature in India’s playing XI against Afghanistan| Vijay Shankar hopeful of retaining place in playing XI
After a few contests against tough rivals, India will get a breather when it takes on Afghanistan at the Hampshire Bowl here on Saturday. The ideal setting for an expected triumph, got even better as the sun was out on the match’s eve. The bright light bounced off the pearl white chairs and the pitch imbibed the warmth.
MATCH PREVIEW BY K.C. Vijaya Kumar
Virat Kohli’s men opted to rest on Friday while Afghanistan limbered up. India is sitting smug with one foot almost in the semifinals. The Men in Blue hold all the aces and have coped well with setbacks like losing Shikhar Dhawan, who had to leave following a fractured left thumb.
The southpaw will be missed but K.L. Rahul has adeptly filled the vacant slot atop the batting tree. There is speculation about a gambit to have a left-right combine as the opening duo with Rishabh Pant walking out with Rohit Sharma but it looks unlikely and Rahul should be the one quelling the initial fires.
Another expected loophole due to Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s strained hamstring, will also be plugged with Mohammed Shami expected to step in. The manner in which Vijay Shankar and Hardik Pandya bowled against Pakistan at Manchester’s Old Trafford last Sunday, gives more options to the Indian captain if and when his frontline speedsters go off the boil. Jasprit Bumrah did deliver a touch short against Pakistan but he could lean upon the cushion of runs provided by Rohit, Rahul and Kohli.
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s twin scalps against Pakistan and the manner in which he hoodwinked the batsmen, augured well and slowly India’s attack acquired cohesive potency. South Africa, Australia and Pakistan have been defeated while the rains had the last-word and washed out the match against New Zealand at Nottingham. Kohli’s men are in fine rhythm and even the bumps triggered through losing personnel to injuries, hasn’t had a debilitating effect so far.
In pictures: India’s practice session ahead of Afghanistan match
Afghanistan, meanwhile, is in a tight corner, having lost five games in a row and there were off-field issues like the brawl involving some players and fans at a restaurant in Manchester. The loss to England would rankle be it the 150-run margin, the sixes that Eoin Morgan launched into the skies or the 110 runs which leg-spinner Rashid Khan conceded.
Most of Gulbadin Naib’s men learnt their cricket from the refugee camps at Peshawar in Pakistan. It bred in them both a steely approach and a willingness to celebrate the small moments. In the lower tier of cricketing nations, Afghanistan had its moments but against fancied opposition, it hasn’t competed. Naib and his fellow batting-mates have to post adequate runs and we are talking about a World Cup which has already witnessed 15 centuries.
The weekend skirmish should follow a predictive path of an Indian victory but the opponent needs to show a fight. Naib owes it to a strife-torn country that found succour within resilient homes at places ranging from Kabul to Kandahar. Khaled Hosseini, who authored The Kite Runner, once said: “In Afghanistan, you do not live as an isolated person. You are somebody’s son, grandson, brother…” There is a clue there for Naib - his troops should compete as a unit.
Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of the World Cup 2019 match between between India and Afghanistan at The Hampshire Bowl Cricket Ground, Southampton.
The match will be streamed live on Hotstar.
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