Rohit Sharma ran amok at Virat Kohli’s home ground. The captain of the country, he chose to return to form in the capital. The Arun Jaitley Stadium pitch was a batting paradise that day. In the evening, the dew fell and it became an absolute paradise. The hitman made 131 off 84 balls playing with the Afghan bowlers. He made seven centuries with this on the World Cup stage. And Ricky Ponting topped the 31st century in ODI cricket.
India bowled out Afghanistan’s struggling 272 runs with 15 overs to spare. Kohli ended the match with a half-century and a four. Team India won by a big margin and increased the run rate to the second position in the league table. It is New Zealand.
Afghanistan won the toss and took the batting. Their captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said that the pitch is good and will try to score big. After that, the responsibility of breaking India’s innings rests on the shoulders of their spinners. Afghans made decent runs, though nothing huge. The captain himself made 80 off 88 balls. At one point it looked like India might have to chase around 300. Towards the end, the Indian bowlers stopped the run rate and picked up wickets. Afghanistan stopped at 272 runs.
Afghanistan’s strength is their spin department. Because Rashid Khan, Mujib ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi are in the camp. The first two are in the top ten of the ICC rankings. But Delhi’s pitch did not help the spinners much. And in the form Rohit was in, even if he had spin, no one would survive today. All three spinners looked helpless in the face of his onslaught today.
