Photo: Kirkinfo
New Delhi: India defeated Afghanistan by 8 wickets to win the World Cup for the second consecutive time.
In the ninth match of the ICC Cricket World Cup played at the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday, India achieved the target of 273 runs given by Afghanistan at the loss of two wickets in 35 overs.
Openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kushan gave the team an opening partnership of 156 runs. Ishan Kushan 47 and Rohit Sharma played a brilliant innings of 131 runs and got out.
Virat Kohli remained not out with 55 and Shreesh Iyer 25 runs. Rashid Khan took both the wickets for Afghanistan.
After winning the toss and batting first, the Afghan team scored 272 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the allotted 50 overs. The Afghan openers failed to give the team a good start.
Opener Rehmanullah Garbaz scored 21 runs, Ibrahim Zadran returned to the pavilion with 22 runs, while middle order batsman Rahmat Shah also proved to be a guest with 16 runs.
Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmat Umarzai put on a partnership of 121 runs for the fourth wicket, after which Azmat Umarzai was dismissed for 62 runs. Captain Hamshtullah returned to the pavilion after playing an innings of 80 runs with the help of 8 fours and a six.
Among the other players, Mohammad Nabi got out with 19, Rashid Khan 16, Najeebullah Zadran 2. Mujeebur Rehman remained not out with 10 runs and Naveen ul Haq 9 runs.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah took 4 wickets, Hardik Pandya took 2 wickets while Shardal Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav took one wicket each.
Earlier, Afghan team captain Hashmatullah Shahidi had won the toss and decided to bat first.
On this occasion, Indian captain Rohit Sharma said that he will try to play an aggressive game against Afghanistan. The important match is that he wants to enter the field against Pakistan with a win.
On the other hand, no changes have been made in the Afghan team, while India has replaced Ashwin with Shardal Thakur as part of the playing XI.
Afghanistan squad
Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rehmanullah Garbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Najeebullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Umar Zai, Rashid Khan, Mujibur Rahman, Naveen Haq and Fazal Haq Farooqui.
India squad
Captain Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Sheris Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardal Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj.
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