India displayed a dominant show in their third group match against Afghanistan as they beat Mohammad Nabi’s men by 66 runs.
The win has helped India better their NRR. Their run jumped from -1.61 +0.07. Now, India will hope New Zealand either of their two remaining games while they continue to win big in their remaining two matches against Scotland and Namibia.
Like the previous two matches, India captain Virat Kohli lost the toss yet again and as expected, Afghanistan captain Nabi decided to bowl first.
It appeared as if the template of the previous two matches will be repeated but Indian openers had other things planned this time.
After being dropped down to No 3, Rohit Sharma (74) was back opening and he alongwith Rahul (69) took India to a blistering start. The pair put on 140 under 15 overs for the first wicket and that really provided a solid base for India.
After they departed, Rishabh Pant (27*) and Hardik Pandya (35*) played two fiery knocks to take India to 210/2, exactly 100 runs more than what they scored last time they batted against Black Caps.
In reply, Afghanistan could only manage 144/7. They struggled throughout the innings as Ashwin, playing his first T20I after a long gap of five years, scalped two wickets.
As a result, India registered their first win in the tournament and collected their first points as well.
On his comeback to Twenty20 International cricket R Ashwin ends with figures of 4-0-14-2 A good day at the office after the batsmen put a big score on the board. #INDvAFG #T20WorldCup
— Anand Vasu (@anandvasu) November 3, 2021
Welcome back Indian batsmen #INDvAFG #T20WorldCup21 pic.twitter.com/BMr1mmVutV
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) November 3, 2021
India’s Net Run Rate has gone from -1.61 +0.07. #T20WorldCup
— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) November 3, 2021
Finally India moved ahead Namibia in this WT20
— Merin Kumar _ (@merin_kumar) November 3, 2021
New Zealand’s 2 remaining matches are against Afghanistan and Namibia. If they win both matches, they will qualify for the semi-finals with #Pakistan #T20WorldCup
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) November 3, 2021
Superb fielding effort by Ravindra Jadeja! #INDvsAFG pic.twitter.com/UsMlzAKR6x
— Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) November 3, 2021
A handy little graph for those watching #INDvAFG #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/KdLPn3qOR6
— Michael Wagener (@Mykuhl) November 3, 2021
Rohit Sharma = class #IndvAfg
— Ravi Bopara (@ravibopara) November 3, 2021
Belated as it was, fantastic all round performance by India. Made the most of a placid placid pitch when batting and bowled extremely well to restrict Afghanistan to 144-7. Victory by 66 runs gets India’s NRR positive which could be invaluable if Afghanistan beat NZ. Big IF that!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) November 3, 2021
Net Run Rate: #Afghanistan: 3.097 to 1.481 #India: -1.609 to 0.073 #NewZealand, however, will sleep the happiest.
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) November 3, 2021
THIS IS THE INDIAN CRICKET TEAM____
— ________. (@patilbhavisha) November 3, 2021
India’s NRR is positive now. Their best scenario to qualify for the semis is: Afghanistan beat New Zealand and then India beat Scotland and Namibia by good margins.
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) November 3, 2021
Regardless of what team you support there is no other feeling like cheering them on among the crowd @OPPOIndia shot of the day | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/5PoRBwAkGH
— ICC (@ICC) November 3, 2021
India are off the mark #T20WorldCup | #INDvAFG | https://t.co/mxP3dOO0xw pic.twitter.com/GMu94qyzjC
— ICC (@ICC) November 3, 2021
