India beat Afghanistan by eight wickets in the 9th match of World Cup 2023 in Delhi on Wednesday evening.
Chasing 273 runs target on a placid surface, India crossed the finishing line in 35 overs after losing both the openers.
Skipper Rohit Sharma (131) and Ishan Kishan (47) put on 156 runs together to take the team close to the victory.
Virat Kohli (55 not out) and Shreyas Iyer (25 not out) helped India reached the target with 90 balls to spare.
Rashid Khan took both the wickets by conceding 57 runs in eight overs.
Rohit Sharma was named player of the match for his match winning hundred.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Afghanistan reached 272/8 in allotted 50 overs.
After losing Ibrahim Zadran (22), Rehmanullah Zadran (21) and Rehmat Shah (16) with 63 runs on the board, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai steadied the ship with 121 runs partnership.
At this point, Afghanistan was look like putting 300 plus runs on the board.
But Afghanistan kept losing wickets at crucial stages and ended up at 272/8, setting 273 runs target for the host country.
Shahidi scored 80 and Omarzai 62 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah bagged four wickets and Hardik Pandya two while Shardul Thakur and kuldeep Yadav took one wicket each.
Squads:
India brought in Shardul Thakur in place of Ashwin.
India XI: Rohit Sharma ©, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyre, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Muhammad Siraj
Afghanistan XI: Rehmanullag Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rehmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi ©, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen ul Haq
