Rohit Sharma pursues a wide delivery that hits him on his thigh pads and India lose an early wicket. Rohit opts for a review but his request fails.
In the recent Afghanistan national cricket team vs India national cricket team match, the Afghanistan bowlers displayed strong performances. Key players included Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Hazratullah Zazai, Rashid Khan (Captain), and Noor Ahmad. The scorecard highlighted their efforts as they aimed to challenge India’s batting lineup.
Afghanistan 206/4 in 20 overs
Afghanistan A won the toss and elected to bat first, starting their innings off strong with Sediqullah Atal (83 off 52 balls) and Zubaid Akbari (64 off 41) sharing an opening partnership of 137 runs which set up an impressive total of 206/4 before Karim Janat joined them with 41 off 20 balls to help Afghanistan A reach an impressive total.
India A struggled in their response, losing Abhishek Sharma (7) and Prabhsimran Singh (19) early. Tilak Varma (16) was then dismissed by Abdul Rahman leaving India A at 48/3 after six overs. Some resistance came from Ayush Badoni (31) and Nehal Wadhera (20) but both soon fell prey to Afghanistan A’s bowling unit.
At the halfway stage, India A were 89/5 in 13 overs and still well short of their target. But Ramandeep Singh scored an impressive half-century to give India A hope; their partnership of 68 between Ramandeep Singh and Nishant Sindhu produced some vital runs that nearly got India A close – although in their final over a miscommunication saw Sindhu run out for 23 and leave India A needing 53 runs from three overs to reach victory.
Rasikh Salam takes charge for the final over, opening with a dot and then scoring two singles to midwicket and Ayush Badoni chipping over to complete AFG’s 14th run in an over.
Salam returns to bowl a fuller and faster delivery now, getting a dot on his third ball before yielding a single to short midwicket where Ayush Badoni tries to hit over the infield for four but misses, before going for six over it but being caught at long off. Umpire changes his ruling, prompting both teams’ dugouts to become indignant; players from each side went down the stairs and exchanged words before referee intervened and restarted the match. Salam secured Afghanistan A’s victory by dismissing Nishant Sindhu with an exceptional one-handed catch in the deep for two wickets to finish his haul at two for 32 in this match, sending Afghanistan A into Sunday’s final against Sri Lanka A as favorites. The winner of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand will qualify for a place in 2022 ICC T20 World Cup Bangladesh; runners-up will advance to that tournament which features 16 teams starting March 22 and ending on April 1. Matches will take place at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka with live coverage available via Sony Pictures Networks India or ESPN STAR Sports global platforms.
India 186/7 in 20 overs
Afghanistan finally found their groove during their semi-final against India A, with Sediqullah Atal’s stunning opening partnership of 83 (52 balls, four sixes and five fours) and Zubaid Akbari (64) providing an irresistibly vibrant start as they reached 206/4 in 20 overs.
India A’s innings struggled early, yet Ramandeep Singh and Nishant Sindhu displayed remarkable resilience as they produced an exciting 68-run stand in just 31 balls between Ramandeep Singh and Nishant Sindhu that kept India A in contention before falling back regularly due to an inconsistent approach with spinners and bowling spinners rashly to reach 186/7 with seven overs remaining.
Ayush Badoni and Nehal Wadhera added 32 runs in the powerplay before Abdul Rahman struck twice to throw India A off balance at 48/3 in six overs. Abhishek Sharma was caught by Rahman before his off stump was broken by Tilak Varma to leave them reeling at 48/3 with just over three overs to go in their innings.
And then came the final blow: Yashasvi Jaiswal was run out in an unfortunate attempt by pacer Rasikh Salam to defend a short ball, hitting it hard across the line and being dismissed for 30 runs. Anshul Kamboj also misread the bounce while going for an ambitious shot off Glenn Phillips, and was out before even striking his bat at it! Both wickets eventually fell.
India A struggled to gain any momentum as their target loomed large in front of them. A spectacular spell from Rasikh helped turn things back, starting off with back-of-the-hand slower balls before returning to his signature style in the death overs. His bowling claimed two key wickets as Karim Janat was caught at deep midwicket while Nishant ran himself out due to miscommunication between himself and his partner.
Afghanistan quickly won their match to secure a place in their inaugural ACC Emerging Teams Cup T20 Asia Cup final, playing India for just 53 runs to advance. Afghanistan are bidding to join Sri Lanka as only other nation with three T20 final appearances since their inaugural edition win back in 2013 (Amerat Cricket Ground of Ministry of Defence in Oman). India have lost in four T20 Asia Cup semi-finals this tournament; earlier they had won every group stage game they entered while beating Bangladesh and Hong Kong without losing.
Afghanistan won by 20 runs
Afghanistan Cricket Team have taken an immense stride forward towards being competitive in Twenty20 internationals, defeating India 2-0 and giving themselves plenty of confidence heading into their match with Sri Lanka next. Both sides played impressive cricket, creating an entertaining contest.
India were in trouble early after losing four early wickets but managed to post an impressive score of 186/7 after 20 overs, although this wasn’t enough to qualify for the final of Emerging Teams Asia Cup. Although Ramandeep Singh made a valiant half century score it wasn’t enough as Afghanistan A managed to outwit India by 20 runs and qualify for final.
Gulbadin Naib shone for Afghanistan with four wickets during an amazing bowling spell, including opener Aaron Finch caught by Nabi, David dismissed and Maxwell removed – effectively stopping Australia’s run chase and setting Afghanistan on their path towards victory. When Litton Das was caught out deep by Azmatullah Omarzai to end their innings it became evident that Afghanistan would prevail.
With both sides eager to give an impressive performance in the final, India started their innings off positively but were quickly undone by Afghanistan’s formidable bowling attack. Mohammad Asghar fell first as he edged an edged delivery from Bumrah at point for seven; soon afterwards Naveen-ul-Haq misfired on an attempt to pull hit that left no room and sent the ball skyward – Pant ran around quickly to take an easy catch!
Afghanistan bowlers continued their impressive play in the second over, with Bishnoi taking out Kohli for two. Later he got Dube driving long off for several runs before Surya hit one single run to give their home team an initial total of 77/3 heading into their final over.
Indian batsman Virat Kohli attempted to accelerate in their final over, going for a big pull shot which hit the boundary and went for six but instead got caught between covers and was out for 14.
Afghan fans were on their feet after an exciting victory and will remember this momentous occasion for years. Cricket has become an emblem of hope and resilience for its people; their national team represents pride of nation that has endured so much over 42 years; its success stands testament to them all and proves they can overcome all odds to accomplish great things.
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