Team India kicked off their T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8s campaign with a clinical 47-run win over Afghanistan. For the Men in Blue, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah dominated and gave the Afghans no chance even after gaining a slight upper hand with the ball at the start of the match.
Batting first after winning the toss, Team India got to a shaky start on a tricky wicket as captain Rohit Sharma departed cheaply. Steadying the ship, Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli put on a short stand before the Indian wicketkeeper was dismissed. Kohli followed suit making way for Hardik Pandya who then controlled the innings with Suryakumar Yadav.
The duo put forth a vital 60-run stand which brought India into the driver’s seat with SKY completing a vital half-century. Though the Indian number 4 got out at 53 in 28 balls, Pandya continued taking on the bowling before departing after a well-made 32 and helped India post a total of 181-8.
Chasing this total, Afghanistan never managed to get into the contest thanks to Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliance as he picked up three wickets while giving away only seven runs in his four overs. Supporting Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav chipped in two wickets each while Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja combined to pick up the remaining two. For Afghanistan, Azmatullah Omarzai top-scored with 26 but with a disappointing batting effort, India registered a 47-run win.