India produce all round performance to down hapless Afghanistan

Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat first

First Innings:

Afghanistan make a steady start: The Delhi pitch was a belter and Afghanistan’s openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran made full use of the conditions and put on 32 runs for the first wicket. But why did the openers start steady? They made sure to put the bad balls away especially from Siraj who was either bowling too wide or on the pads which made run scoring easy.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz set the tone for Afghanistan at the top of the order
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-afghanistan-9th-match-1384400/match-photo

Gurbaz was supported well by Ibrahim Zadran as the two put on 32 runs for the first wicket
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-afghanistan-9th-match-1384400/match-photo

Bumrah draws first blood for India: Jasprit Bumrah took the first wicket for India as he dismissed Ibrahim Zadran for 22 runs and the score moved to 32/1. But why did Zadran lose his wicket after starting so well? Bumrah bowled in the “channel of uncertainty” which led to Zadran’s downfall as he edged one to the keeper. There was also a little bit of movement for the pacers with the new ball.

Jasprit Bumrah took the first wicket for India as he dismissed Ibrahim Zadran for 22 runs
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-afghanistan-9th-match-1384400/match-photo

Afghanistan build another steady stand: After losing Zadran, Gurbaz and new batter Rahmat Shah build another steady partnership of 31 runs for the second wicket. But why were the Afghan batters able to rebuild? The ball was coming onto the bat nicely which led to easy run scoring.

Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur strike in quick succession: Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur struck in quick succession for India as they dismissed Gurbaz and Rahmat Shah. But why did Aghanistan lose quick wickets? It was the batters error rather than the pitch providing assistance. While Gurbaz was late on the pull shot, Rahmat Shah missed a straight ball from Shardul to be LBW. And just like that, 32/1 became 63/3 in no time.

Hardik Pandya took his first wicket when he dismissed Gurbaz for 21 runs
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Shardul Thakur also joined in as he dismissed Rahmat Shah for 16
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-afghanistan-9th-match-1384400/match-photo

Shahidi and Omarzai rebuild for Afghans: Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai rebuild for their team as they shared a 121 run stand for the fourth wicket. But why did India let it slip? With the pitch being good to bat, both the batters started to attack when spin was introduced which led to quick run scoring which caught India off-guard and the score moved to 184/3.

Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatuallah Omarzai rebuild for Afghanistan through a 121 run stand for the fourth wicket
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-afghanistan-9th-match-1384400/match-photo

Hardik breaks threatening stand: Hardik Pandya was at it again as he broke the 121 run stand when he dismissed Azmatullah for 62 runs. But why did he lose his wicket? He was outfoxed by Hardik’s slower ball which led to his downfall as the score moved to 184/4.

Hardik Pandya took his 2nd wicket of the match as he dismissed Azmatullah for 62 runs
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-afghanistan-9th-match-1384400/match-photo

Afghanistan rebuild again: After losing Azmatullah for 62, the Afghan team rebuild again with a 41 run stand for the fifth wicket with Captain Shahidi the aggressor this time and as mentioned above, the pitch had a significant role to play again as the batters continued their aggressive approach with no help for the bowlers whatsoever.

Kuldeep breaks the partnership: India’s “middle overs enforcer”, Kuldeep Yadav finally came to the party as he dismissed Shahidi for 80 runs and as mentioned above, Shahidi’s poor judgement cost him as he missed a short ball from Kuldeep to be trapped LBW and the score moved to 225/5.

Afghanistan suffer a collapse: After losing their skipper, Afghanistan suffered a collapse as none other batter could make a significant contribution. But why did they collapse? India’s bowlers struck at regular intervals which put a lid on the scoring rate. Bumrah finished with a four fer and Hardik Pandya also took a brace as Afghanistan slipped from 225/5 to 272/8. Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav also chipped in with one each.

Jasprit Bumrah eventually finished with a four fer while Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur (both shown in above pictures) and Kuldeep Yadav also contributed with wickets
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-afghanistan-9th-match-1384400/match-photo

Second Innings:

India start strongly: India started strong as openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan put on 156 runs for the first wicket. But why did India start well? As mentioned in the First Innings analysis, the pitch again had a role to play as there was no help for the bowlers.

Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan started strongly for India as they shared a 156 run stand for the first wicket
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-afghanistan-9th-match-1384400/match-photo

Rashid Khan strikes for Afghanistan: Rashid Khan was the only bowler to strike for Afghanistan as he dismissed both Kishan and Rohit. But the damage had already been done. Ishan made a good 47 while Rohit scored a stunning century as he made 131 runs. But why did they get out? Again the batsmen played poor shots as Ishan got out to a leg side delivery while Rohit played a sweep to a not so full delivery as the score moved to 205/2.

Rashid Khan was the only bowler who struck for Afghanistan
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-afghanistan-9th-match-1384400/match-photo

Stat Alert: Rohit Sharma’s 131 is his 7th century in World Cups and he overtook the “God of Cricket” Sachin Tendulkar who has 6 to his name.

Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer finish the game off: Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer finished the game off as India won by a convincing 8 wicket margin. Virat remained unbeaten on 55 while Iyer scored an unbeaten 25.

As seen from the above analysis, Afghanistan were clearly underpar with the bat and they were atleast 40 runs short on this wicket. They had many small partnerships but they couldn’t convert any of them into significant ones apart from the 121 run stand. India again had a perfect game apart from Siraj who had a rare poor day. But he would like to forget it as a one off and move on to the next game.

Note: I do not own any of these images. The credit for these images goes to espncricinfo.com. These images have been used to show what happened in the match.