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India crushed Afghanistan in Match 33 by 66 runs to finally open their account in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021.
After being asked to bat first, India demolished Afghanistan bowling courtesy of the star openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. The duo left no stone unturned to keep the momentum in India’s favour and formed a dominating partnership.
Rohit ended up as the top-scorer for his side. The Mumbaikar made 74 runs off 47 deliveries with the help of eight fours and three sixes. Similarly, Rahul also shined with the bat and scored 69 fr♑om 48 balls, including eight boundaries. The pair put together a remarkable stand of 140 runs for the opening wicket.
Apart from Rohit and Rahul, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant and all-rounder Hardik Pandya also chipped in with valuable contributions to push India’s total beyond the mark of 200. In just 3.3 overs, Pant (27 off 13 no) and Hardik (35 off 13 no) stitched an unbeaten 63-run stand to inspire India to 210/2 in their allotted 20 overs.
In reply, Afghanistan managed to reach 144/7 in 20 overs, to lose the contest by a big margin of 66 runs. Karim Janat, with an unbeaten 42 off 22 balls, was their top scorer in tꩲhe matchꦏ.
For India, Mohammed Shami picked up three wickets for 32 runs in his quota of 4 overs. While Ravichandran Ashwin, who was playing his first limited-overs fixture since꧃ 2017, bagged a couple of scalps for just 14 runs in 4 overs.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
This is how it is ꧃done. India played like India. 👏👏
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash)
Indian people love devouring sweets during Diwali. Tonight🌳 it was the turn of Afghan Jalebi 🐻😋
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14)
A 🔝 performance from to get off the mark 😍💪🗹
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL)
Back to winning ways 💪🇮🇳
Now that's what we call a brilliant performance 💙
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan)
Rohit Sharma = class
— Ravi Bopara (@ravibopara)
🤞🏻🇮🇳
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals)
India's net run rate has also stormed into positive territory.
Scorecard:— betvisa68.com (@CricketTimesHQ)
DiWali + The Winning feeling🤩 💛 🦁
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL)
A comprehensive win for to sum up Diwali eve! 😍
📸: Wisden
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders)
If bea🍬t by one run & NZ beat by 60 runs, should have a combined win aggregate of 107 runs against Nam & to qualify (assuming teams bat 1st scoring 160 in all games).
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks)
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)
has finally opened their account with 2 points in 3 matches.
Their NRR from -1.609 has now jumped to 0.073
However, is this, all too late?
🤞— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman)