Down the track, pumped over the bowler to finish the game. Shortish ball, at the stumps. Kohli drove through the line off the back foot
India vs Afghanistan, 9th Match at Delhi, World Cup 2023, Oct 11 2023 - Match Result
India go two in two ahead of the Pakistan clash. Afghanistan have lost two games and have a few issues to sort out, particularly when it comes to maximising the team total. Follow the tournament here on ESPNcricinfo to find out if they can turn things around. For now, it's goodbye from me, Ekanth, on behalf of my report-writing co-commentator, Danyal Rasool, and our scorers, Chandan Duorah and M Venkat Raghav.
Rohit Sharma: Was a good win for us. Important to get the momentum at the start. You will be put under pressure. There will be a spell from the opposition and we'll have to absorb the pressure. We absorbed it well. For now, it's leaving what's happened aside and move on. You've got players with different skillsets bringing different attributes, which is good for the team. We got batters who play freely and fearlessly. When you have all-round players, things take care of themselves. In WCs, you need to respond with different styles of play. Looking at India Pakistan like we did this game. Don't want to worry about the external favours. We'll treat every game like that: how the pitch plays, conditions and combinations, etc.
Hashmatullah Shahidi: We had above 300 as the target in mind, given India's strong line-up. Unfortunately, we lost back-to-back wickets in the middle. Our thinking at the toss was that it was a good pitch and we wanted to put up big runs. After losing three, me and Azmat were talking, told him to keep going and look after each other. Looking forward to the seven more games. Hope to work on the issues and come back positively.
Venkatesh : "Isn't Siraj bowling a matter of concern" Not yet. Just one bad game for now.
Rohit Sharma, POTM Was a good pitch to bat. Backing myself to play my natural game. Knew wicket would get easier once I'd get my eye in. It's something I've been working on for a while. Special to get a World Cup 100. Very happy about that. Don't want to think about records too much because I know there's a long way to go ahead and not to lose my focus and what's required. Just want to make it count on days like this. Some of my play is premeditated, can't just go out and play big shots. Sometimes, you go by instinct. It's a mixture of both. I know it's my responsibility to give the team a good start and put the team in a good position as much as possible. It's something I've done for a while and love. Looks good when it works out. It doesn't always come off but I want to back myself to keep trying and put pressure on the opposition.
9pm A comfortable eight-wicket win for India with all of 15 overs to spare. Rohit Sharma's back in form, Bumrah looked great. Things coming together for the hosts. Afghanistan pushed their way to get a decent score but Rohit's powerplay bash left them high and dry. The pulls were effortless, the swats nonchalant and the drives powerful. Farooqi bowling straight lines and trying to bring the ball back in backfired bigtime, as did Rashid being held back till the 15th over.
Swivel pulls it to the outfield at backward-square leg to pick up two. Fifty for Kohli, he acknowledges it.
Shortish ball just outside off. Shreyas' knees are bent, his upper body is close to the ball but manages to stir it off the back foot to deep third
Flat-bat pulls the shortish ball outside off to mid-on
Pawan : "Kohli , finish this with your fifty in this over."
Bouncer. Very short, comes in to go over off, swayed away to let go
Beats Hashmat at wide mid-off and races away. Length around off, was punched off the back foot. Hashmat got across to it and dove over the ball. Should've been stopped
Short outside off, dragged across with another pull. Finds midwicket. Nabi, the fielder. Looks to have hit him hard on the right hand. He's walking back with his palms spread out. Might've split his webbing, notes Ramiz Raja on air
Pulls the bumper wide to the left of deep fine leg. 133ks, just under the shoulder, he swivelled and whacked it
Slow on a length. Dabbed from off stump to deep third
Overpitched on middle and off, goes back and whips it to mid-on
Back of length on off, stabbed to point
Back of length on middle and off, blocked towards cover for a quick single
Drinks
Yorker just outside off, squeezed to the left of the bowler
Full on fifth, driven to deep point
Fullish ball just outside off, pushed to long-off
Short on off, pulled to the right of deep square leg
Length just outside off, pushed to deep cover
Steps down and tonks the full ball, just outside off, over long-on for a biggie. 101-metre monster! Longest of the tournament so far. India's 250 is up
Thanks, Danyal
back of a length, pulled towards cow corner for a single. With that, I'm off to write my report. Here comes Ekanth
timed through the covers
Samarjit: "Could we have YouTube like message board here in EspnCricinfo? So that we can all have our messages seen. It is really tough to go through your AI mind to publish our comment. In last 10 years only one comment of mine is published and I have taken a screenshot and kept it in my laptop home screen pic to cherish." Anyone who looks at YT comments should know why that's a bad idea
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W |
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi | |
Toss | Afghanistan, elected to bat first |
Series | |
Season | 2023/24 |
Player Of The Match | |
Match number | ODI no. 4666 |
Hours of play (local time) | 14.00 start, First Session 14.00-17.30, Interval 17.30-18.00, Second Session 18.00-21.30 |
Match days | 11 October 2023 - daynight (50-over match) |
Umpires | Paul ReiffelDRS |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee | |
Points | India 2, Afghanistan 0 |
Over 35 • IND 273/2
India won by 8 wickets (with 90 balls remaining)