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World Cup 2023 | Rohit Sharma Shatters Afghanistan With Milestone Ton In Big Indian Win

image-lnlvxs8vRohit Sharma celebrates his record World Cup 2023 century with Ishan Kishan (x.com)

Brief Scores: Afghanistan: 272-8 (50 overs) [Hashmatullah Shahidi: 80 (88), Azmatullah Omarzai: 62 (69); Jasprit Bumrah 4/39 (10), Hardik Pandya 2/43 (7)] lost to India: 273-2 (35 overs) [Rohit Sharma: 131 (84), Virat Kohli: 55* (56); Rashid Khan 2/57 (8)] by eight wickets.

Team India mowed down a spirited Afghanistan side in match number nine to make it two-in-two this 2023 World Cup.

Shahidi defies Jasprit Bumrah to take AFG to 272

Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur all picked up early wickets within their respective opening spells as none of Afghanistan’s top three converted their confident starts into a notable one. Floored at 63-3, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi reconstructed Afghanistan’s innings with a sensible 121-run partnership with number five Azmatullah Omarzai.

Both Shahidi and Omarzai slammed sparkling half-centuries before the latter was cleaned up by Pandya against the run-of-play at 184-4. The skipper hung around for a while and ended up top-scoring in the innings with a tactical 80.

Bumrah, following his new-ball burst, snared three more wickets to finish with 4-39 off his 10 overs. Lower-order basher Rashid Khan punched out lusty hits in the death to elevate Afghanistan’s total to a competitive 272-8 by the end of their innings.

Rohit Sharma mauls Afghanistan with record World Cup ton

Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan made lightwork of Afghanistan’s competitive batting effort upfront, as the duo shared 156 runs for the first wicket in just 18.4 overs. While Kishan failed to read Rashid Khan to hand Afghanistan their first breakthrough of the innings, the Indian captain bludgeoned his way to a record World Cup century through his 131-run boundary-laden hurricane.

Sharma raced to his fifty off 30 balls, and belted his hundred from just 63 balls to extinguish all Afghan hopes within the first half of the Indian run-chase itself. His innings shattered several batting records, including the one which took him past Sachin Tendulkar to become the most prolific century-maker in World Cup cricket.

Following his dismissal, batting veterans Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer completed the formality by guiding the Indian team home with 15 overs to spare.