Indian skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front by scoring a scintillating 131 as India defeated Afghanistan by 8 wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran got Afghanistan off to a steady start. The duo added 32 runs for the opening stand before the latter (22) was caught behind the stumps to a brilliant outswinger from Jasprit Bumrah.
Gurbaz and Rahmat Shah fell soon after as Afghanistan were reduced to 63/3. However skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai kept the hosts at bay with a 121 run stand for the fourth wicket before the latter was cleaned up by a slower delivery from Hardik Pandya for a fine 62.
Kuldeep Yadav then got into the act by dismissing Shahidi leg before wicket while attempting a reverse sweep for a 88 ball-80. Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman scored some handy runs down the order to take their side to 272/8 in their 50 overs.
Star bowler Jasprit Bumrah ended up with figures of 4/39.
In response, skipper Rohit Sharma along with Ishan Kishan got India off to a blazing start. The pair put on 156 runs for the first wicket before Rashid Khan broke the stand by dismissing Kishan for a run a ball 47.
Rohit created a record by scoring the fastest hundred by an Indian in the World Cup history. He reached his ton off just 63 balls. In the process he surpassed Virender Sehwag’s 81-ball hundred against Bermuda in the 2007 World Cup.
Rashid Khan then finally cleaned up Indian skipper with a flipper for a 84 ball-131. His knock comprised off 16 fours and 5 sixes.
Virat Kohli (55)* along with Shreyas Iyer (25)* shared an unbeaten 68 run stand for the third wicket as the Men in Blue overhauled the target with 15 overs to spare.
India 273 for 2 (Sharma 131, Kohli 55*, Rashid 2-57) beat Afghanistan 272 for 8 (Shahidi 80, Omarzai 62, Bumrah 4-39) by 8 wickets