SOUTHAMPTON: Moham­med Shami claimed a hat-trick to secure victory as India pipped Afghanistan by 11 runs in a thrilling low-scoring league match in the World Cup on Saturday.

Opting to bat after winning the toss at the Rose Bowl, India struggled on a slow pitch and crawled to 224-8 with Virat Kohli (67) and Kedar Jadhav (52) managing half-centuries against a disciplined Afghan attack.

Skipper Gulbadin Naib (2-51) and spinner Mohammad Nabi (2-33) shared four wickets between them as India posted their lowest total of the tournament.

Afghanistan’s batsmen, however, could not complement the effort of their bowlers and were all out for 213 to slump their sixth defeat in six matches.

Nabi was the top-scorer for them with 52 before Shami claimed the last three wickets — those of Nabi, Aftab Alam and Mujeeb Ur Rahman —with successive deliveries in the final over to seal India’s fourth victory of the tournament.

Earlier, India failed to get out of second gear. In-form opener Rohit Sharma, who has scored two hundreds so far in the tournament, was dismissed for just one by off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

The rest of India’s powerful top order all got established. But none went on to play a decisive innings for the two-time champions in front of thousands of their fanatical supporters.

They hit just 16 boundaries — including only one six — against an Afghanistan side who looked out of their depth.

Off-spinner Mujeeb was particularly impressive, conceding just 26 runs in his 10 overs, while leg-spinner Rashid Khan bounced back from the most expensive spell in World Cup history against England to take 1-38.

Sharma’s dismissal in the fifth over set the tone for the disappointing Indian display.

STANDINGS

(Tabulated under played, won, lost, no-result, points, net run-rate):

Australia 6 5 1 0 10 +0.849

New Zealand 5 4 0 1 9 +1.591

India 5 4 0 1 9 +0.809

England 6 4 2 0 8 +1.457

Sri Lanka 6 2 2 2 6 -1.119 Bangladesh 6 2 3 1 5 -0.407

West Indies 5 1 3 1 3 +0.272

South Africa 6 1 4 1 3 -0.193 Pakistan 5 1 3 1 3 -1.933

Afghanistan 6 0 6 0 0 -1.712

Updated after India vs Afghanistan match on Saturday

Scoreboard

INDIA:

Batsmen & mode of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

K.L. Rahul c Hazratullah b Nabi 30 53 2 0 56.60

R.G. Sharma b Mujeeb 1 10 0 0 10.00

V. Kohli c Rahmat b Nabi 67 63 5 0 106.34

V. Shankar lbw b Rahmat 29 41 2 0 70.73

M.S. Dhoni st Ikram b Rashid 28 52 3 0 53.84

K.M. Jadhav c sub b Gulbadin 52 68 3 1 76.47

H.H. Pandya c Ikram b Aftab 7 9 0 0 77.77

Mohammed Shami b Gulbadin 1 2 0 0 50.00

Kuldeep Yadav not out 1 1 0 0 100.00

J.J. Bumrah not out 1 1 0 0 100.00

EXTRAS (W-7) 7 - - - --

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 50 overs) 224 - - - --

Fall of wkts: 1-7 (Sharma, 4.2 ov), 2-64 (Rahul, 14.2 ov), 3-122 (Shankar, 26.1 ov), 4-135 (Kohli, 30.3 ov), 5-192 (Dhoni, 44.3 ov), 6-217 (Pandya, 48.4 ov), 7-222 (Shami, 49.3 ov), 8-223 (Jadhav, 49.5 ov).

DID NOT BAT: Y.S. Chahal.

BOWLING: Mujeeb Ur Rahman 10-0-26-1 (1w); Aftab Alam 7-1-54-1; Gulbadin Naib 9-0-51-2 (2w); Mohammad Nabi 9-0-33-2 (1w); Rashid Khan 10-0-38-1 (2w); Rahmat Shah 5-0-22-1 (1w).

AFGHANISTAN:

Batsmen & mode of dismissals R B 4s 6s SR

Hazratullah Zazai b Shami 10 24 1 0 41.66

Gulbadin Naib c Shankar b Pandya 27 42 2 0 64.28

Rahmat Shah c Chahal b Bumrah 36 63 3 0 57.14

Hashmatullah Shahidi c and b Bumrah 21 45 2 0 46.66

Asghar Afghan b Chahal 8 19 0 0 42.10

Mohammad Nabi c Pandya b Shami 52 55 4 1 94.54

Najibullah Zadran c Chahal b Pandya 21 23 2 0 91.30

Rashid Khan st Dhoni b Chahal 14 16 1 0 87.50

Ikram Alikhil not out 7 10 0 0 70.00

Aftab Alam b Shami 0 1 0 0 0.00

Mujeeb Ur Rahman b Shami 0 1 0 0 0.00

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-4, W-9) 17 - - - --

TOTAL (all out, 49.5 overs) 213 - - - --

FALL OF WKTS: 1-20 (Hazratullah, 6.3 ov), 2-64 (Gulbadin, 16.5 ov), 3-106 (Rahmat, 28.4 ov), 4-106 (Hashmatullah, 28.6 ov), 5-130 (Asghar, 34.6 ov), 6-166 (Najibullah, 41.3 ov), 7-190 (Rashid, 45.4 ov), 8-213 (Nabi, 49.3 ov), 9-213 (Aftab, 49.4 ov), 10-213 (Mujeeb, 49.5 ov).

BOWLING: Mohammed Shami 9.5-1-40-4 (3w); Bumrah 10-1-39-2; Chahal

10-0-36-2; Pandya 10-1-52-2 (2w); Kuldeep Yadav 10-0-39-0.

RESULT: India won by 11 runs.

UMPIRES: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and R.K. Illingworth (England).

TV UMPIRE: R.A. Kettleborough (England).

MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Jasprit Bumrah.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2019