India vs Afghanistan, World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah power Men in Blue to commanding eight-wicket win

India extended their winning start to their home World Cup campaign with a commanding eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan in Delhi on Wednesday.

World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table

Skipper Rohit Sharma led the way with a blistering 131, smashing the record for the fastest hundred by an Indian in the ICC World Cup along the way. Rohit laid the foundation for victory with a 156-run opening partnership with Ishan Kishan (47), and departed shortly after India went past the 200-mark. India would eventually cruise home with eight wickets and 15 overs to spare.

Rohit thus broke the record for the fastest century by an Indian in ICC World Cups, breaking the record that was previously held by the legendary Kapil Dev (in 72 deliveries against Zimbabwe in 1983).

Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah earlier led the way with a haul of 4/39 on a placid Delhi track that had witnessed 734 runs being scored in the South Africa-Sri Lanka fixture last week. His four-fer helped India restrict Afghanistan to 272/8.

Virat Kohli, who had struck a match-winning 85 against Australia on Sunday, brought up a second successive half-century and got his team over the line with an unbeaten 55.

Shreyas Iyer, who had been dismissed for a duck in the tournament opener against Australia, remained unbeaten on 25 at the other end, stitching an unbroken 68-run stand for the third wicket with Kohli.

Afghanistan had earlier posted a competitive 272/8 on the board — a marked improvement from their batters after their display against Bangladesh last week — after opting to bat. Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi top-scored for the Afghan Atalans with a knock of 80, stitching a 121-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Azmatullah Omarzai (62).

Afghanistan have now lost both of their matches at the start of the 13th edition of cricket’s showpiece event, and the prospect of reaching the semi-finals of an ICC event for the first time ever appears increasingly difficult.

Brief Scores:

Afghanistan 272/8 in 50 overs (Hashmatullah Shahidi 80, Azmatullah Omarzai 62; Jasprit Bumrah 4/39) lost to India 273/2 in 45 overs (Rohit Sharma 131, Virat Kohli 55*; Rashid Khan 2/57) by 8 wickets

More to follow