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Gurugram (Haryana) : Afghanistan restricted India to just 224/8 in 50 overs in the 28th match of CWC at The Rose Bowl, Southampton, UK, on June 22, 2019, with captain Virat Kohli scoring 67 in 63 balls hitting 5 fours and all-rounder Kedar Jadhav scoring 52 in 68 balls with 3 fours and a six. India won the toss the toss and opted to bat.
With Afghanistan spinners including Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rashid Khan, and Mohammad Nabi wreaking havoc, the Indian batsmen were unable to hit fours and sixes. The lone six was hit was Kedar Jadhav. M S Dhoni took 52 balls to score 28 with 3 fours. Dhoni’s strategy of accelerating the scoring rate in the last few overs came a cropper as he himself got out in the 45th over to Rashid Khan. It was a pathetic display of batting by the Indian batsmen.
Batting first, India lost the wicket of their star opener and vice-captain Rohit Sharma in the 5th over with only 7 runs on the board. Rohit (1) was bowled by Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Op3ner Lokesh Rahul then added 57 runs with captain Kohli. Rahul fell to Mohammad Nabi for 30 in 53 balls hitting only 2 fours.
Kohli and all-rounder Vijay Shankar added 58 runs for the 3 wicket. Vijay fell to spinner Rahmat Shah for 29 in 41 balls with 2 fours. Kohli fell to Nabi soon making it 135/4 in 30.3 overs. Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav added 57 runs for the 5th wicket. Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav consumed so many overs without accelerating the scoring rate. In fact, it was irritating to see them bat like this against the minnow of the international cricket. Hardik Pandya kept waiting in the dug out for his turn. He got his chance but it was too late and he got out for 7.
For Afghanistan, Mohammad Nabi Khan and Captain Gulbadan Naib took 2 wickets each while Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rashid Khan, Rahmat Shah, and Aftab Ahmad took one wicket each.