AFG VS IND T20I

Right then, that is it from this one-sided affair. India opens their account in the Super Eights stage while Afghanistan have it all to do in their next two games. However, the action does not stop here as we have a big clash coming up between Australia and Bangladesh on 21st June, Friday. That match will begin at 6 am (12.30 am GMT), but as you know, you can always join us early for all the build-up. Until then, cheers and goodbye!

Rohit Sharma, the victorious skipper of India starts by saying that over the last couple of years, they have come to the West Indies and have played a few T20Is and are familiar with the conditions. Adds that 180 was a tremendous effort by the batters and then they knew they had a class bowling lineup. Mentions that it is crucial that the likes of Surya and Hardik come to form and every individual has to do their job and applauds that partnership. On Jasprit Bumrah, says that everyone knows he is class and it is about using him smartly and Bumrah himself takes the responsibility to achieve that. On the extra spinner, he says that nothing is concrete with the playing XI and it also depends on the opposition and if the next venue offers something for the seamers, they will be open to bringing back the extra seamer.

Rashid Khan, the captain of Afghanistan says that they knew, they would be chasing in excess of 160 but they could have been smarter with their executions. Adds that his bowling is coming off well and he is hitting the right areas, but the result matters the most. Mentions that they have enjoyed their cricket everywhere but the most important thing is the mindset. Ends by saying that they will play according to the conditions after assessing if it is a batting or bowling track.

Suryakumar Yadav is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his breezy half-century. He says that there's a lot of hard work and practice that goes into his play. Adds that he is really happy to get the win and is happy to be the first Indian batter to get the player of the match as well in this tournament. On Rashid Khan, he says that Rashid is very difficult to pick but you have to take him on and he is happy to have had the better of him in this game. Mentions that there is a game plan from the start but he plays according to the game situation and had a chat with Hardik Pandya about keeping their foot on the pedal as it would get hard to hit the ball in the death overs due to the reverse swing and the slower deliveries.

Presentation Time...

Earlier in the game, India posted a big total on the board courtesy of a fine half-century from SKY along with crucial contributions from Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, and Axar Patel. Afghanistan were a bit off in this game with the ball and it was their skipper, Rashid Khan who was the pick of the bowler with three wickets. Fazalhaq Farooqi also got three, while Naveen-ul-Haq chipped in with one. While chasing, the Afghans came out with intent, but they kept on losing wickets in clusters that did not help them at all as they faced back-to-back defeats in this World Cup.

India, on the other hand, after a shaky first over, were all over the Afghans throughout the game. Jasprit Bumrah got rid of Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the second over. Axar followed it up by dismissing Ibrahim Zadran, while it was Bumrah again who sent Hazratullah Zazai back to the hut. They allowed a partnership to build in the middle overs but after the drinks break, it was all India once again. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja sent back both the set batters, and Afghanistan could not really recover from that. Bumrah and Kuldeep added one more to their tallies while Arshdeep Singh wrapped things up with three wickets in his last two overs.

Afghanistan needed a quick start, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz played a few lusty blows to put the pressure on Arshdeep. However, it all fell apart when he got out in the second over and his opening partner, Hazratullah Zazai followed suit, while Ibrahim Zadran also failed to make much of an impact After that, it was the pair of Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai who steadied the ship with a decent partnership, but the asking rate kept creeping up. They tried to up the ante, but both the set batters lost their wicket in quick succession, and they suffered a collapse afterward as no batter could stick around for much longer. In the end, they fell short by a big margin of 47 runs.

CLINICAL PERFORMANCE FROM INDIA! The bowlers were just too hot to handle for the Afghans here and the Men in Blue keeps their unbeaten streak in this World Cup intact. They were under a bit of pressure when they lost the two big guns early, but Suryakumar Yadav showed why he is the number-one ranked batter in this format, and then the entire bowling unit came to the party to register a convincing victory.

OUT! CAUGHT! That's it, Arshdeep Singh gets his third wicket and India bundles out Afghanistan on the final delivery. Arshdeep runs in from over the stumps and pitches the ball up on the fifth stump line, looking to angle it across. Noor Ahmad hangs deep and goes after it trying to go over covers but the ball comes off the toe-end of the bat and doesn't travel much further away from Rohit Sharma at covers. The Indian skipper makes no error and India win the game by 47 huge runs!

OUT! CAUGHT! That's it, Arshdeep Singh gets his third wicket and India bundles out Afghanistan on the final delivery. Arshdeep runs in from over the stumps and pitches the ball up on the fifth stump line, looking to angle it across. Noor Ahmad hangs deep and goes after it trying to go over covers but the ball comes off the toe-end of the bat and doesn't travel much further away from Rohit Sharma at covers. The Indian skipper makes no error and India win the game by 47 huge runs!

WIDE! And again and that's a bit unnecessary from Arshdeep Singh putting it so much effort for nothing. Fuller in length and well outside the off stump, Rishabh Pant springs across to make the save

WIDE! Arshdeep Singh will have to reload the final delivery here. Full and quick again, looking for the wide yorker but this is spilled beyond the tramline for a wide.

Excellent comeback delivery from Arshdeep Singh. Full and quick, nails it in the blockhole around off and Noor Ahmad fails to dig it out.

SIX! Noor Ahmad finally connects one and that is a flat six! Banged in short again over middle and leg, Noor gets on top of the bounce and muscles it off the front foot and just over the fence behind deep square leg for a biggie.

Another miss and Noor Ahmad is just swinging a bit too hard at the ball. Bowled from over the stumps and banged into the deck over of and middle. Noor tries to hang back and pull but misses the ball.

Swing and a miss! Bowled full and wide of the off stump with a bit more effort behind it. Noor Ahmad goes across to the off side and throws the kitchen sink at it but fails to connect.

Pitched up on a length and outside off, Noor Ahmad throws his hands at it and slices it up over the cover region and denies the single once again.