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India 273 for 2 (Sharma 131, Kohli 55*, Rashid 2-57) won Afghanistan 272 for 8 (Shahid 80, Umarzai 62, Bumrah 4-39) with 8 wickets.
India’s top order, including Rohit, wasted badly against Australia after the home team slumped to 2 for 3. Today, Rohit will ensure that it does not happen again. The first couple of quiet overs were followed by Rohit’s first boundary, and the gates opened. Fazlul Haq Faruqui was hooked at long on for six followed by a couple of fours. There was a frequent dose in his follow-up to Al-Farouqi, as Rohit sprinted to a lightning half-century, which he brought up with a boundary, off 27 balls. A couple more sixes and boundaries followed, and by the end of the powerplay, India had moved up to 94th, the highest in this tournament.
With Ishan Kishan content to play a supporting role at the other end, Rohit released his weak arms. The spinners were not spared. Mujibur Rahman leaked three boundaries in four deliveries to the opener, and before the end of the 18th over, Rohit’s inevitable hundred was over. Coming in 63 balls, it was the fastest by an Indian in an ODI World Cup. That it was Rohit who achieved this record was not surprising at all.
Rashid Khan removed Ishan Kishan at the other end, but Rohit was driving with Kohli for a while. But Rashid, who came into play later than his side perhaps needed to, finally cleaned it up with a fin for 131, although India now only needed to go through the motions. Kohli’s innings was little more than batting practice, and by the time he hit the winning shot down the ground, that net session and India’s win was complete.
The best passage to play in Afghanistan will follow. Shahidi and Omarzai put together a 121-run partnership that rendered the spinners largely ineffective, forcing Rohit to return the quicks earlier than he would have wanted. In the end, while both were over the course of half a century, Afghanistan was picking up borders at will, and seemed poised for a total of more than 300.
Once Hardik Pandya cleaned up Umarzai with a cutter, things started to unravel. Mohammad Nabi looked woefully out of touch with reality, his knock of 19 off 27 robbing Afghanistan of momentum rather than giving it any, and the men who followed him were never quite able to regain control. Shahidi connected 88, an 80-ball vital in registering a respectable score, but when he fell on a reverse to Kuldeep Yadav, any hopes of a 300 were dashed.
That left Rashid, Mujib and Naveed to play a brilliant wicket that took the score to the 272 they managed, but as Rohit confirmed, it was an under-score in the end.
