Title favourites India got a reality check, with Afghanistan running them close chasing 225 to win in their group stage match at the ICC World Cup, at Southampton on Saturday.
Needing 16 off the last over, with three wickets in hand, Mohammad Nabi (52) threatened to hand India an embarrassing defeat with a four off the first ball. But his dismissal off the third ball by Mohammad Shami ended Afghanistan's chances. Shami bowled Aftab Alam and Mujeeb Ur Rahman off successive deliveries to become only the second Indian bowler after Chetan Sharma in 1987 to claim a hat-trick in a World Cup.
Credit should also go to Shami's new-ball partner Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled a phenomenal spell of 10-1-39-2. His perfect yorkers at the death prevented Nabi from getting those big shots away.
Afghanistan were always in the hunt in the low-scoring encounter, with captain Gulbadin Naib (27) and Rahmat Shah (36) getting starts. But the Indian bowlers, especially the spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (2/36) and Kuldeep Yadav (0/39), kept the Afghan batsmen quiet in the middle overs. Even Hardik Pandya, whose first two overs went for 20 runs, made a great comeback in the next eight, giving away just 31 runs.
The highest partnership for Afghanistan—44 runs—was between Naib and Shah, as India kept taking wickets at regular intervals to keep things under their control.
Earlier, electing to bat after winning the toss, India could manage only 224/8 in their 50 overs, because of Afghanistan's disciplined bowling. Apart from skipper Virat Kohli (67 off 63 balls), none of the other batsmen could score freely. Though Kedar Jadhav chipped in with 52 (off 68 balls), he too was guilty of letting the scoring rate stagnate during the middle overs.
Veteran batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni was even worse, struggling to even rotate the strike. Dhoni (28 off 52 balls) and Jadhav added only 57 runs in 14 overs during the middle overs. The wicketkeeper-batsman's struggle finally ended when he was stumped off Rashid Khan, while trying to step out and go for a big hit.
The amount of pressure the duo put on Hardik Pandya was evident as he was forced to slog from ball one but failed to deliver this time getting out to pacer Aftab Alam.
Skipper Gulbadin Naib (2/51) also impressed with his seam-up stuff dismissing Jadhav off the penultimate delivery of the innings.
Kohli never looked in trouble, and looked good for another hundred but missed three in three games, trying to cut Nabi with the turn. Vijay Shankar (29 off 41 balls) nudged around and was steady during their 58-run stand before being adjudged leg before to Rahmat Shah.