India defeats Afghanistan in the World Cup 2023 thanks to Rohit Sharma’s record-breaking tonne.
With a record-breaking seventh World Cup century on Wednesday, India’s captain Rohit Sharma passed fellow countryman Sachin Tendulkar to lead India to a thrashing eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan.
The hosts, who were chasing 273 for victory in New Delhi, rode on Rohit’s 131 to reach their mark in 35 overs for a second straight victory in the championship 50-over match.
He broke Tendulkar’s mark of six tons in World Cups with his century off 63 balls, which caused the virtually full audience to stand.
In addition, Rohit’s century was the quickest by an Indian in a World Cup, surpassing Kapil Dev’s century against Zimbabwe in 1983, which came off just 72 balls.
In order to surpass Chris Gayle’s record of 553 sixes across all forms and score 1,000 World Cup runs, Rohit smashed the ball to every part of the ground.
Before being dismissed by leg-spinner Rashid Khan, the brash opener had struck 84 balls and hammered 16 fours and five sixes during his innings.
After a strong bowling performance on a batting-friendly wicket, his opening partnership of 156 runs with the left-handed Ishan Kishan, who scored 47, increased the team’s domination.
Virat Kohli, a cricketing superstar who was born in Delhi, quickly grabbed control and batted an undefeated 55 before finishing the game with a boundary.
After deciding to bat, Afghanistan scored 272-8 on a pitch where South Africa scored 428 runs to defeat Sri Lanka, setting a World Cup record of 754 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah, the home team’s leader in pace, shone out with his best World Cup bowling stats of 4-39.
A 121 run partnership between Hashmatullah Shahidi (80) and Azmatullah Omarzai (62) helped Afghanistan comeback after falling to 63-3. Ibrahim Zadran was caught behind for 22 by Bumrah, who then pointed to his temple in jubilation.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who was on 21, and Rahmat Shah, who was on 16, both lost their wickets in the space of four deliveries, thanks to Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur.
Following a century stand between left-handed batsmen Shahidi and Omarzai, Rohit decided to switch up his bowling lineup.
After Omarzai scored his second ODI fifty, Shahidi promptly hit Pandya for four to reach his half-century and then added a six.
Omarzai, who scored 69 runs off 69 balls and struck two fours and four sixes, also tried to attack but was dismissed by Pandya.
Regular boundaries were used by Shahidi to continue the attack, but he was LBW by Kuldeep Yadav when he attempted to reverse sweep the left-arm wrist spinner.
On a run-filled wicket, Bumrah scored twice, including a strike for Rashid, to keep Afghanistan at bay.
Afghans were defeated by Bangladesh in their tournament opener, while tournament favourites India beat five-time champions Australia.
World Cup 2023: India vs. Afghanistan Highlights On his way to a record-breaking hundred, Rohit Sharma exuded style and grace as he led India to a decisive eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup on Wednesday. After deciding to bat, Hasmatullah Shahidi’s tenacious 80 and the young Azmatullah Omarazai’s brave 62 helped Afghanistan reach 272 for eight. In a World Cup game, Jasprit Bumrah concluded with his best-ever statistics after taking four wickets. All of that, though, was overshadowed by Rohit’s performance, especially in the opening 10 overs.
The fastest World Cup century by an Indian was eventually achieved by him, coming in 63 balls. India’s captain Rohit (131 off 84) was unstoppable and displayed his enviable variety of strokes throughout a stunning batting display. His sixth World Cup century, a record, came off 63 balls and helped India bat down the target in 35 overs, greatly enhancing their net run rate in front of their third World Cup match against Pakistan on October 14.
