Afghanistan batted first after winning the toss. Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (21) and Ibrahim Zadran (22) both got into the 20s, but then gave their wickets away. Rahmat Shah also fell cheaply for 16. At 63/3, Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (80 off 88) and Azmatullah Omarzai (62 off 69) joined hands, adding 121 for the fourth wicket.
India, however, fought back brilliantly after Omarzai and Shahidi were dismissed by Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav respectively. Jasprit Bumrah, who had earlier claimed the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran returned to get the scalps of Najibullah Zadran (2), Mohammad Nabi (19) and Rashid (16). As a result, Afghanistan could not get the final flourish.
Chasing 273, Rohit got India off to a flyer, adding 156 with Ishan Kishan in just 18.4 overs, with the latter struggling for momentum for most part of his innings. Rohit reached 50 off 30 deliveries and then broke Chris Gayle’s (553) record for most international sixes. When he reached 100 off 63 balls, he also broke Kapil Dev’s record (72 balls) for the fastest World Cup ton by an Indian.
That is not all. Rohit is now also the sole record holder of the batter with most hundreds in the ODI World Cup. He has seven, going past the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. His fantastic knock featured 16 fours and five sixes and ended when he was bowled trying to slog sweep Rashid Khan. Before him, Kishan also fell to the leggie, miscuing a chip to cover.
Following the dismissals of the openers, Virat Kohli (55* off 56) and Shreyas Iyer (25* off 23) guided India home with ease.
Speaking after being named Player of the Match, Rohit was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz, “It was a good win for us, very important to get that momentum at the start of the tournament. It is about absorbing pressure and taking the right decision on the field. There will be a spell from the opposition where you will have to absorb pressure. Leading up to the tournament we had played such games. You have got players with different skill sets in our team. They bring different attributes of the game to the team.”
--By A Cricket Correspondent
