At the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup Super Eight match at the Kensington Oval here on Thursday, India defeated Afghanistan with a competitive score of 181/8 in 20 overs thanks to an outstanding 53 off 28 balls from top-ranked batter Suryakumar Yadav, who mixed attacking drives with impeccable timing.
Suryakumar put Afghanistan under strain with his sweep strokes, hitting five fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 189 despite the slow and damp pitch.
Axar Patel’s 12-run cameo and his 60-run partnership with Hardik Pandya (32) helped India pick up the pace, as 56 runs came in the final five overs. Afghanistan’s captain Rashid Khan and left-arm bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi each claimed three wickets.
The fact that the ball was staying on the pitch indicated that the pitches weren’t hitting the bat nicely. Farooqi kept Rohit Sharma quiet even though he scored a consistent four from him. Replays revealed that the ball had pitched outside leg-stump, therefore he also avoided an LBW appeal off Farooqi that was reviewed.
When Rohit attempted to take on Farooqi’s off-cutter holding off the pitch in the third over, he miscued off the toe-end to mid-on. In the last Power-play over, which produced 13 runs, Rishabh Pant took the attack to Afghanistan by neatly flicking Farooqi for four. He then proceeded to reverse-sweeping, slog-sweeping (dropped by Naveen-ul-Haq on 11), and driving through cover to take three fours off Mohammed Nabi.
However, Pant was defeated by the leg-break delivery and held plumb lbw despite trying to reverse-sweep against Rashid; the review indicates that the ball would have struck the stumps. Within the following over, Virat Kohli lofted a straight ball to long off, giving Rashid another breakthrough.
While Rashid trapped Shivam Dube leg-before-stump with a quicker leg-break that bypassed his attempted jab and struck the pad flap first in front of the off-stump, Suryakumar kept India’s innings alive with his variety of sweeps, scoring three boundaries.
After moving over and whipping Azmatullah Omarzai for four with a low full ball, Suryakumar drove him through mid-off for another boundary, leaving everyone stunned. Pandya was timing his strokes for boundaries, while Suryakumar was hitting a drive from Omarzai for six.
Pandya ripped into Noor Ahmad, hitting a six down the line after turning inside-out superbly over extra cover for four. Before Farooqi holed out to far off, Suryakumar hit him for six over long-on and then flicked a four past mid-wicket to reach his fifty in just 27 balls.
Pandya hit Naveen with a 98-meter six that was blasted over the stadium terrace before diving to deep point off the pacer. With an uppercut to short third man and become Farooqi’s third scalp, Ravindra Jadeja dealt another serious blow to India’s hopes of a thrilling conclusion. Axar skillfully used his gaps to deny Naveen two boundaries and propel India over 180.
Brief scores:
India 181/8 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 53, Hardik Pandya 32; Rashid Khan 3-26, Fazalhaq Farooqi 3-33) against Afghanistan