Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav starred for India as the Men in Blue crushed Afghanistan in their first Super 8 match at T20 World Cup by 47 runs. While ace seamer Bumrah returned with three wickets for just seven runs, SKY, as most fans call Surya, smashed his second fifty of the showpiece event, helping India gain the upper hand. 

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India won the toss and elected to bat first. Despite three failures at the top, Virat Kohli continued to open with Rohit Sharma, with the pair finding it hard to strike on the two-paced surface in Barbados. Fazalhaq Farooqi removed India captain Rohit Sharma, caught on eight. India’s run machine at number three, Rishabh Pant, began from where he left, adding 43 for the second wicket to put India back on track.

Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan removed both quickly before accounting for all-rounder Shivam Dube for 10. As India’s scorecard read 90 for four at one stage, two T20 specialists – Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya bailed the team with a 60-run stand. 

On this difficult wicket, Surya brought his A-Game to the scene, smashing another fifty in the tournament (53 off 28 balls), hitting three sixes and five fours. 

Farooqi completed his three-wicket haul with SKY and Jadeja’s dismissal, as Naveen-ul-Haq removed dangerous-looking Pandya on 32. Thanks to a late blitz from Axar Patel, India crossed the 180-run mark (181 for 8) in 20 overs.

Bumrah put India ahead

The ace seamer Jasprit didn’t take long before picking his first wicket of the day by removing opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz on one. Soon after, Axar Patel removed Ibrahim Zadran on eight before Bumrah removed his opening partner Hazratullah Zazai, caught by Jadeja on just two, putting Afghanistan’s back against the wall, with their scorecard reading 23 for three. 

Two all-rounders, Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai, tried saving the sinking ship but failed, falling to Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav inside 12 overs. Bumrah returned to pick another one, conceding just seven runs off his four overs. 

Despite going for a six in his last over, Kuldeep picked the big wicket of Mohammad Nabi to put an end to Afghanistan’s hopes. The wickets continued to tumble, with Arshdeep picking two in two balls. 

Noor Ahmed played a few shots, a couple going for boundaries, but those weren’t enough as India won the game by 47 runs. 

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