The Men in Blue wins against the minnows by 11 runs last Saturday
India won against Afghanistan on their match in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup last Saturday by 11 runs. The minnows had restricted India to 224 for eight in their 50 overs while Afghanistan had 214 in 49.5 overs.
The match started well for India with 106-2 in the 29th over and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah removing Afghanistan all-rounder Rahmat Shah and batsman Hashmatullah Shahidi from the field. Men in Blue captain Virat Kohli appealed to the umpire in the same over for an lbw decision that was turned down.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammed Nabi and batsman Najibullah Zadran kept their scores up. However, Zadran was caught by India spin bowler Yuzvendra Chahal off all-rounder Hardik Pandya which left the minnows’ score into 166-6 in their 42nd over.
Nabi continued playing until the final over with 16 left, where he batted India fast bowler Mohammed Shami’s first ball for four. However, Nabi was then caught by Pandya two balls later at long on.
Quickly afterwards, Shami completed a hat-trick that carried India’s scores when he clean-bowled Afghanistan bowlers Aftab Alam and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
“When the captain has so much trust in you, it gives you a lot of confidence to express yourself. That helps me keep a clear head,” said player-of-the-match Bumrah. “There was a reverse swing, so you had to rely on your yorkers.”
Meanwhile Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib credited Bumrah’s fast bowls in the last few overs.
“We bowled really well. We did well in batting, but credit to Bumrah for how he bowled in the last two or three overs,” said Naib after the match ended. “The total was not that much but you need 80s or 100s—30 or 25s are not enough. If you chase 250 then middle order batsmen should go longer and take responsibility.”
India’s next match is against West Indies on Thursday at Old Trafford Cricket Ground. The Men in Blue currently have -312 odds to win the match while Windies have +250 odds.
If you want to know how the World Cup works and the ten teams that are competing, you can read Betwala’s article on it.
READ MORE: What is the ICC Cricket World Cup?
