After heartbreaking defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand, India finally opened their account in the T20 World Cup with a win against Afghanistan and stayed alive in the race for the semi-finals.
After posting 210/2 on perhaps the flattert pitch of the tournament, India needed to bowl out Afghanistan by 99 to edge past their net run rate. However, a late blitz by Karim Janat (42* in 22 balls) reduced the defeat margin to 66, as they managed 144/7 in their 20 overs.
In fact, India had reduced Afghanistan to 69/5 in the 12th over, and had an excellent opportunity to increase the margin. The 57-run sixth-wicket stand between Mohammad Nabi and Janat thwarted those hopes.
India’s net run rate climbed to 0.73 but remains below Afghanistan (1.48) and New Zealand (0.82). However, India did climb to the fourth spot in their group, going past Namibia.
Registering their second-highest T20 World Cup score and the highest in the current edition, the Indian bowlers, too complemented their batters after collectively picking just two wickets in the first two games.
Mohammed Shami returned to wickets, claimed a career-best of 3/32, while Jasprit Bumrah remained economical with 1-25. Reuniting with the white ball in national colours after a four-year gap, R. Ashwin (2-14) and Ravindra Jadeja (1-19) bowled with precision and found bite off the pitch in the absence of dew. They conceded just 33 from their seven overs. Even Hardik Pandya bowled two overs to silence all talks about his fitness.
The Indian batting resurgence
To nobody's surprise, Virat Kohli challenged probability theories yet again when he lost the toss and was invited to bat. However, the rest of the script changed significantly as they scored 100 more Sunday's total against New Zealand.
The much-famed Indian batting finally lived up to their reputation by posting 210/2. A solid foundation by the openers, Rohit Sharma (74 in 47 balls) and K.L. Rahul (69 in 48), followed by a late blitz by Rishabh Pant (27* off 13) and Hardik (35* off 13), powered India to the highest total of the tournament.
Rohit and Rahul, reunited at the top after a brief experiment with Ishan Kishan, laid the foundation to add 140 in 87 balls, the fourth-highest opening partnership in the tournament's history and India’s highest.
Watching India’s struggles against spin in the Pakistan and New Zealand matches, Nabi had started with spin, employing himself and slow left-arm bowler Sharafuddin Ashraf, who was drafted in for Asghar Afghan.
India mixed caution with action to score 53 in the Powerplay, with Rohit dominating the scoring. The highlight of the innings was Rohit's treatment of the main threat. Rashid Khan has an excellent record against the top Indian batters, but the Indians kept the dot ball percentage against him at a bare minimum before hoisting him for consecutive sixes.
He did return strongly to go for a three-run final over, including an overturned leg-before appeal against Pant, to finish with 4-0-36-0, a very rare off day for him.
Pant and Hardik added an unbeaten 63 in 21 balls to ensure the apt ending.
India will play Scotland in Dubai on Friday. Meanwhile, the Afghans play their last group match against New Zealand on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
Brief scores: India 210/2 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 74; Karim Janat 1/7) beat Afghanistan 144/7 in 20 overs (Karim Janat 42*; Mohammed Shami 3/32) by 66 runs. Player of the Match: Rohit Sharma