Twenty20 World Cup: India register first win in Super 8, beat Afghanistan by 47 runs

BRIDGETOWN: India registered its first victory in the Super 8 round of the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup by beating Afghanistan by 47 runs. After winning the toss in Bridgetown, India scored 181 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. In reply, Afghanistan was bowled out for 134 runs in 20 overs.

Suryakumar Yadav, who scored 53 runs in 28 balls, was India's top scorer. Hardik Pandya (32), Virat Kohli (24) and Rishabh Pant (20) also helped India reach the score of 181. Pacers Jaspirt Bumrah (3/7) and Arshdeep Singh (3/36) shone with the ball by taking three wickets each. Kuldeep Yadav (2/32) got two wickets, while Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja took one wicket each.

Batting first, India was struggling at 90/4 at one point, then came a match-saving 60-run partnership between Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya (32 in 24 balls) that took India to 181/8 in their 20 overs. Rashid Khan (3/26) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (3/33) were the top bowlers for Afghanistan.

In the run-chase of 182 runs, Afghanistan never looked threatening and lost wickets regularly. Azmatullah Omarzai (26 in 20 balls) was the only one to cross the 20-run mark as other batters failed miserably against the Indian bowlers.