India had no trouble adapting to conditions in the West Indies. The move from USA to Barbados was seamless, as India crushed Afghanistan by 47 runs in its first Super 8 game here on Thursday.

It was an authoritative performance with bat and ball. Led by Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, India passed the pitch test with flying colours to make a commanding 181 for eight. With ball in hand, Jasprit Bumrah (3/7) and the three spinners put the stranglehold on the Afghans.

Skipper Rohit Sharma will be pleased with the team’s performance. A high standard for the rest of the tournament, all of which will be held in the Caribbean, has been set.

Suryakumar Yadav’s 28-ball 53 laid the winning template. He thrilled the crowd with shot-making of the highest quality and his 19th T20I fifty guided India to its highest total of the tournament so far.

Too steep

On a dry pitch, it proved a mountain to climb for Afghanistan. It was on the backfoot early in the chase when the in-form batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz was deceived by a slower ball from Bumrah. The cutter came to use again when the Indian pace ace foxed Hazratullah Zazai.

From 23 for three, there was no chance of a fightback though Gulbadin Naib (17, 21b), Azmatullah Omarzai (26, 20b) and Najibullah Zadran (19, 17b) delayed the inevitable.

After winning the toss, Rohit strode out with Virat Kohli to take first strike. He could not adjust to the pace of the pitch, and succumbed to a mighty heave.

Kohli (24, 24b, 1×6) brought up his first double-digit score of the tournament, but was not entirely convincing.

In the ninth over, he hit wrist-spinner Rashid Khan into the hands of long-off.

Strike bowler Rashid had removed the dangerous Rishabh Pant in his previous over. Pant looked in his element until he was trapped while playing a reverse sweep.

India’s prospects started to brighten when Suryakumar and Hardik were at the crease. The former was in impeccable touch, making it look easy on a pitch where the others struggled.

His first boundary, a sweep off Rashid, proved how quickly he had adjusted to the conditions.

Suryakumar then planted his foot way outside off-stump to send a low full toss from pacer Azmatullah Omarzai to the square-leg boundary. This was innovative strokeplay at its best.

At the other end, Hardik (32, 24b, 3×4, 2×6) smashed the media room window with a thunderous straight blow. When Naveen-ul-Haq was full, he despatched the ball out of the stadium.

The fluent 60-run fifth-wicket stand between Suryakumar and Hardik swung the momentum India’s way and pushed it well above the par-score. Anticipating the surface to assist turn, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was brought in to replace fast bowler Mohammed Siraj. And Kuldeep made a case for a longer run in the XI with a neat spell.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA

Rohit Sharma c Rashid b Farooqi 8 (13b, 1×4), Virat Kohli c Nabi b Rashid 24 (24b, 1×6), Rishabh Pant lbw b Rashid 20 (11b, 4×4), Suryakumar Yadav c Nabi b Farooqi 53 (28b, 5×4, 3×6), Shivam Dube lbw b Rashid 10 (7b, 1×6), Hardik Pandya c Omarzai b Naveen 32 (24b, 3×4, 2×6), Ravindra Jadeja c Naib b Farooqi 7 (5b, 1×4), Axar Patel run out 12 (6b, 2×4), Arshdeep Singh (not out) 2 (2b); Extras (lb-5, w-8): 13; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 181.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-11 (Rohit, 2.5 overs), 2-54 (Pant, 6.6), 3-62 (Kohli, 8.3), 4-90 (Dube, 10.5), 5-150 (Suryakumar, 16.6), 6-159 (Hardik, 17.6), 7-165 (Jadeja, 18.4), 8-181 (Axar, 19.6).

AFGHANISTAN BOWLING

Farooqi 4-0-33-3, Nabi 3-0-24-0, Naveen 4-0-40-1, Rashid 4-0-26-3, Noor 3-0-30-0, Omarzai 2-0-23-0.

AFGHANISTAN

Rahmanullah Gurbaz c Pant b Bumrah 11 (8b, 1×4, 1×6), Hazratullah Zazai c Jadeja b Bumrah 2 (4b), Ibrahim Zadran c Rohit b Axar 8 (11b, 1×4), Gulbadin Naib c Pant b Kuldeep 17 (21b, 1×4, 1×6), Azmatullah Omarzai c Axar b Jadeja 26 (20b, 2×4, 1×6), Najibullah Zadran c Arshdeep b Bumrah 19 (17b, 2×6), Mohammad Nabi c Jadeja b Kuldeep 14 (14b, 1×6), Rashid Khan c Jadeja b Arshdeep 2 (6b), Noor Ahmad c Rohit b Arshdeep 12 (18b, 1×4, 1×6), Naveen-ul-Haq c Pant b Arshdeep 0 (1b), Fazalhaq Farooqi (not out) 4 (1b, 1×4); Extras (b-4, lb-7, w-7, nb-1): 19; Total (in 20 overs): 134.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-13 (Gurbaz, 1.2), 2-23 (Ibrahim, 3.4), 3-23 (Zazai, 4.1), 4-67 (Naib, 10.2), 5-71 (Omarzai, 11.1), 6-102 (Najibullah, 15.2), 7-114 (Nabi, 16.3), 8-121 (Rashid, 17.4), 9-121 (Naveen, 17.5).

INDIA BOWLING

Arshdeep 4-0-36-3, Bumrah 4-1-7-3, Axar 3-1-15-1, Hardik 2-0-13-0, Kuldeep 4-0-32-2, Jadeja 3-0-20-1.

Toss: India.

PoM: Suryakumar.

India won by 47 runs.

Hardik Pandya celebrates during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Afghanistan, at Arun Jaitley Stadium, in New Delhi, on October 11, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Following India’s eight-wicket win against Afghanistan in the ninth ODI World Cup match at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday, star allrounder Hardik Pandya celebrated his 30th birthday with his teammates in the dressing room.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a small glimpse of the birthday celebration on their official X account. “For the birthday boy from #TeamIndia From the birthday boy to everyone,” BCCI wrote on X while sharing the video.

While speaking in the video, the 30-year-old thanked everyone for the birthday wishes. He later added that it was a special moment for him to play on his birthday.

“Thank you everyone for the wishes. It means a lot for me to play on my birthday for the first time in my life. It was special and thank you to the fans and my teammates for showing so much love,” Pandya said in the video.

In the match against Afghanistan, Hardik Pandya picked up two wickets in his seven-over spell and gave away 43 runs. Pandya did not have to come to the crease since the top Indian batting lineup made no mistake during the run chase.

In the first inning, Afghanistan gave a target of 273 runs after Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai played a knock of 80 and 62 runs respectively.

In the second inning, Indian opener Rohit Sharma played a stellar knock of 131 runs from 84 balls to take the Men in Blue to a comfortable position in the game.

Following Rohit’s dismissal, Virat Kohli took charge of the game and scored 55 runs from 56 balls and slammed a four to clinch a win at his home ground.

In the upcoming encounter, the Men in Blue will square off against Pakistan at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Rohit Sharma
| Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar.

A look at the records notched up by Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli during India’s massive win on Wednesday:

Rohit’s third six of the innings helped him surpass Chris Gayle’s record of 553 sixes, scored in 551 innings, across formats. The Indian skipper now has 556 maximums in 473 innings.

Rohit’s 63-ball hundred is the fastest World Cup hundred by an Indian, bettering Virender Sehwag’s 81-ball ton against Bermuda in 2007.

Rohit broke the tie with Sachin Tendulkar for most World Cup hundreds with his seventh ton in just 19 innings across three editions.

Rohit equalled David Warner to become the joint-fastest batter to 1000 ODI World Cup runs in 19 innings. Rohit is the fourth Indian to score 1000 World Cup runs after Sachin, Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli

Rohit went past 50 international sixes in a calendar year for a record fourth time (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2023*), surpassing Gayle’s mark of three such instances (2009, 2012 and 2019).

Rohit’s 76 runs in the first PowerPlay is the most by an Indian batter in an ODI innings. The previous best was 70 by Robin Uthappa against West Indies in 2007.

Rohit’s 131 is the highest by an Indian in a World Cup chase surpassing Sachin’s unbeaten 127 against Kenya in 1996.

With 2311 in 53 innings, Kohli has broken Sachin Tendulkar’s record fo most runs in ICC World Cups (ODIs and T20Is). Sachin, who only featured in 50-over World Cups, amassed 2278 runs from 45 innings.

Kohli’s 46th half-century helped him best Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 45 fifty-plus scores in successful ODI run-chases.

New Delhi:

The Delhi Traffic Police issued an advisory on Tuesday for the October 11 India versus Afghanistan World Cup Cricket match and asked commuters to avoid certain roads around the Arun Jaitely stadium here. The match will begin at 2 pm on Wednesday.

According to the advisory, there will be diversions or restrictions on Bahadurshah Zafar Marg and JLN Marg. No heavy vehicles and buses will be allowed on the roads from Daryaganj to Bahadurshah Zafar Marg and from Guru Nanak Chowk to Asaf Ali Road, it said.

The traffic police department requested commuters to avoid the following roads – Rajghat to JLN Marg, JLN Marg from Kamla Market roundabout to Rajghat, Asaf Ali Road from Turkman Gate to Delhi Gate, and Bahadurshah Zafar Marg from Ramcharan Aggarwal Chowk to Delhi Gate.

It said limited parking is available for labelled vehicles in the proximity of the stadium. “Display of car parking label on the windscreen is mandatory. Vehicle number must be written on parking label. The vehicles without valid parking label shall not be allowed in the proximity of the stadium,” the advisory read.

“Car parking label holders are advised to take Ring Road, JLN Marg, Asaf Ali Road, or Bahadurshah Zafar Marg (‘U’ turn at Delhi Gate is allowed),” it added.

The advisory said no vehicle would be allowed to be parked on Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, JLN Marg, and Ring Road from Rajghat to IP Flyover (Both the carriageways).

“Vehicles parked on these roads shall be towed away and prosecuted as per law,” it said.

Traffic Advisory

In view of the ICC Men’s #CricketWorldCup2023 match to be played between India & Afghanistan on October 11, 2023 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, traffic diversions/restrictions will be effective. Kindly follow the advisory.#DPTrafficAdvisory#CWC2023#INDvsAFGpic.twitter.com/vbwjSLOYHA

— Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) October 10, 2023

The traffic police said park and ride facility is available for spectators and unlabelled vehicles. All spectators coming in their vehicles may reach the Mata Sundari parking, Shanti Van parking, and the parking under Velodrome Road to avail of the facility or walk down to the stadium, it added.

Spectators using application-based taxis and other taxies should use the service lane on Ring Road between IP Flyover and Rajghat crossing for drop and pickup, the advisory added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)