IND vs AFG, T20 World Cup 2024: India start Super 8 stage with win over Afghanistan

The Indian men’s cricket team beat Afghanistan by 47 runs in their first Super 8 encounter of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Thursday.

India have climbed to the top of Group 1 in the Super 8 following this win. Afghanistan, Australia and Bangladesh are also in the same group.

Having won the toss, the Indian cricket team opted to bat first in their first match in the Caribbean. Afghanistan made a strong start with the ball thanks to Fazalhaq Farooqi and Rashid Khan but India managed to bounce back. Suryakumar Yadav led the batting effort with a sublime half-century while Hardik Pandya also played a solid hand.

Chasing a target of 182, Afghanistan lost wickets early on with Jasprit Bumrah making an instant impact. They struggled to build partnerships throughout the innings before getting bundled out for 134 on the final ball of the match.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma failed to make a mark in Barbados and was dismissed by the T20 World Cup 2024’s highest wicket-taker Farooqi for eight. Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli steadied the ship with a 43-run partnership before Pant lost his wicket for 20 while trying to reverse sweep Rashid Khan.

Virat Kohli’s woeful form continued as he returned to the pavilion after a run-a-ball 24. With India in a difficult situation, Suryakumar Yadav stepped up and added 53 off 28 to put the pressure back on the Afghanistan cricket team.

Suryakumar’s innings included five boundaries and three sixes before he was dismissed by Farooqi.

Hardik Pandya also complemented Suryakumar with a 24-ball 32 and Axar Patel added 12 runs off just six balls lower down the order to help India reach a total of 181/8.

Both Farooqi and Rashid picked up three wickets each for Afghanistan in the first innings.

The Afghanistan run-chase began with a complicated first few overs as they failed to negotiate the opening spell of Jasprit Bumrah.

Bumrah dismissed both openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Hazratullah Zazai inside the powerplay while Axar Patel picked up the wicket of Ibrahim Zazai.

The introduction of spin also proved to be tricky for Afghanistan. Azmatullah Omarzai lost his wicket to Ravindra Jadeja after scoring 26 while Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Gulbadin Naib after he scored 17.

Afghanistan continued to lose wickets throughout the middle overs and lost impetus at the death. Arshdeep Singh picked up three consecutive wickets to clean up the lower order as India secured a 47-run win over Afghanistan.

Along with South Africa and Australia, India remain unbeaten in the T20 World Cup 2024. The Men in Blue will face Bangladesh at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua next Saturday.

IND vs AFG T20 World Cup 2024 brief scores: India 181/8 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 53; Rashid Khan 3/26, Fazalhaq Farooqi 3/33) beat Afghanistan 134/10 in 20 overs (Azmatullah Omarzai 26; Jasprit Bumrah 3/7, Arshdeep Singh 3/36) by 47 runs.