ICC CWC: Bumrah limits Afghanistan to 272/8 with four-wicket haul, Afghan skipper Hasmatullah scores 80

NEW DELHI: Jasprit Bumrah produced his best bowling spell (4/39) in a World Cup match to restrict Afghanistan to 272/8 in 50 overs against India at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, here on Wednesday.

Afghan skipper Hasmatullah Shahidi (80) and Azmatullah Omarzai (62) made a crucial 100-plus stand to help their team reach par score.

Electing to bat first, Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran showcased sensibility in dealing with the new ball and added 32 runs for the opening wicket. Zadran scored a 28-ball 22 before he fell to Jasprit Bumrah in the seventh over.

Gurbaz and newly-in Rahmat Shah, however, soon stitched another short 30-run stand and scored at a faster rate to take Afghanistan past the 50-run mark. Shardul Thakur took a crucial catch of Gurbaz (21 runs off 28 balls) on the fine-leg boundary followed by trapping Shah (16 off 22) lbw in the next over.

The two wickets saw the Afghans lose initiative early in the innings as they went from 63/1 to 63/3 in the space of three deliveries. However, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai soon showed the depth of Afghanistan's batting as the duo added 100 runs for the fourth wicket to bring themselves back into the game.

Hasmat-Azmat targeted the Indian spinners and pacer Mohammed Siraj to get crucial runs in the middle overs as Afghanistan recovered to 184 runs by the 35th over. The 121-run stand, the second-highest for Afghanistan in a 50-over World Cup, was eventually ended by Hardik Pandya, who took the wicket of Omarzai in the 35th over.

Shahidi (80 off 88) tried to keep the Afghanistan innings on track with Mohammad Nabi coming in at No. 7 but the partnership was limited to 41 runs as Kuldeep Yadav sent the skipper packing in the 43rd over.

Bumrah returned in the 45th over and picked two wickets in an over to dismiss Nabi (19 off 27) and Najibullah Zadran (2 off 8) and then came back in the 47th over to dismiss dangerman Rashid Khan, who played a cameo of 12-ball 16 to take Afghanistan past 250.

Afghanistan finished the innings at 272/8 as tail-enders managed to see out the remaining overs.