03/11Result
33rd Match, Group 2 (N), ICC Men's T20 World Cup at Abu Dhabi, Nov 3 2021
India won by 66 runs
Player of the Match
Rohit Sharma
Rohit SharmaIndia
03/11Result
33rd Match, Group 2 (N), ICC Men's T20 World Cup at Abu Dhabi, Nov 3 2021
India won by 66 runs
Player of the Match
Rohit Sharma
Rohit SharmaIndia

END OF OVER:
20 | 16 Runs | IND: 210/2 | RR: 10.50

  • Hardik Pandya35 (13b)
  • Rishabh Pant27 (13b)
  • Hamid Hassan4-0-34-0
  • Naveen-ul-Haq4-0-59-0

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KL Rahul: "It's the best wicket we've batted on in the last three games. The wicket looks better if the openers give you a solid foundation, and that's what Rohit and I tried to do. Very happy with the batting performance. We've played together for a long time, we understand each other, even with the running between the wickets, and we have the freedom to go out there and play our games. I was trying to stay in good shape and not muscle the ball. You either play out the main bowler or go after him, but we had wickets in hand, so it doesn't matter if it's Rashid Khan or anyone else, and it came off for us today. Feels good to get runs off their No. 1 bowler."

7.49pm Phew, that was some hitting towards the end. Sixty five runs off the last four overs. Sixty five! (If my math is right, which it wasn't to start with) India have gone out and done exactly what they would have set out to do once they knew they'd be batting first. They brought all their experience and skill to the party today, and everything fell into place, as an opening partnership of 140 followed by a third-wicket stand of 63 off 21 would suggest.

Big stat from Sampath: "This is the first time Virat Kohli did not bat in his T20 career when his team has batted first." Given when the first wicket fell, it was absolutely the correct decision from him to push Pant and Pandya up the order.

19.6
1b
Hamid Hassan to Pandya, 1 bye, and a bye to finish things. Pandya was looking to create a bit of room and Hamid follows him with a slower blockhole ball. Whips his wrists at it but fails to connect, and it passes between his legs and down the leg side, and is half-stopped by a diving Shahzad
19.5
4
Hamid Hassan to Pandya, FOUR, good ball, and a bit of misfortune for the bowler. Leg-stump yorker, and Pandya, who was taking stance deep in his crease with his back foot on off stump, looks to flick it away hurriedly and inside-edges it between his legs and to the right of short fine leg
19.4
1b
Hamid Hassan to Pant, 1 bye, extra bounce, back of a length and slanting into a wide-ish line outside off. The bounce beats the attempted slap through the covers
19.3
0
Hamid Hassan to Pant, no run, shortish slower ball finishing outside off, looks to swivel and pull it fine and fails to connect
19.2
6
Hamid Hassan to Pant, SIX, off-balance, but he'll still clear the boundary, and these aren't short boundaries by any means. Slower ball, fullish, angling away from off stump. Pant doesn't move his feet at all, just falls to the floor but somehow keeps the shape through his upper body to swing cleanly through the line and hit it over the long-off boundary
19.1
4
Hamid Hassan to Pant, FOUR, shot! Length ball angling across to finish outside off, and Pant steps a long way across, anticipating that line, and scoops it over his shoulder and to the right of the man at short fine leg

Hamid to finish things. Over the wicket to Pant.

END OF OVER:
19 | 19 Runs | IND: 194/2 | RR: 10.21

  • Hardik Pandya31 (11b)
  • Rishabh Pant17 (9b)
  • Naveen-ul-Haq4-0-59-0
  • Hamid Hassan3-0-20-0
18.6
2
Naveen-ul-Haq to Pandya, 2 runs, back of a length slower ball at the stumps, cramps him for room on the leg-side swat, ends up hitting it along the ground towards long-on
18.5
6
Naveen-ul-Haq to Pandya, SIX, bang. I cannot believe people wanted this man out of the side because he wasn't bowling. That's close to being an off-stump yorker, but against Pandya you need to be pinpoint. Clears his front leg, and that whippy bottom hand sends it flying flat, back over the bowler's head
18.4
1
Naveen-ul-Haq to Pant, 1 run, angles a fullish slower ball away from Pant's reach, and he's slightly falling away to the leg side as he tries to hit it over extra-cover. Doesn't middle it at all, and only gets a single to the right of the fielder

Short third and fine leg inside the circle. Naveen stays over the wicket to Pant.

18.3
1
Naveen-ul-Haq to Pandya, 1 run, full, just outside off, too full for Pandya to get the elevation he'd like. Driven firmly to long-off
18.2
6
Naveen-ul-Haq to Pandya, SIX, slower ball, but it's short and it offers Pandya room outside off stump. And he puts it away in stunning style. Flat-bat hit over wide long-off, clears the boundary by a distance, and all that power came through his swivelling hips
18.2
1w
Naveen-ul-Haq to Pandya, 1 wide, looks for the wide-line slower ball, ends up too wide outside off, and Pandya simply leaves it alone
18.1
2
Naveen-ul-Haq to Pandya, 2 runs, oh no, he's not getting any favours from his fielders. Slower ball dug into the pitch outside off, and Pandya, looking to flat-bat it over the covers, ends up slicing it high and squarer than he'd like. Extra-cover runs to his left and seems to have it under control, but the ball plops out of his hands. Then Pandya, running the second quickly, collides with Shahzad and falls in a heap at the batting crease. Everything is happening all at once. Najibullah Zadran is the fielder who dropped that catch

Pandya had to get some attention on his right elbow, but he's okay to continue now. Naveen to bowl his final over. He's been expensive so far. Can he end well?

Aakarsh: "Why has Nabi bowled just 1 over?????!!!!!!" -- Two right-handers at the crease for most of this innings, and most of the time two set right-handers.

END OF OVER:
18 | 15 Runs | IND: 175/2 | RR: 9.72

  • Hardik Pandya14 (6b)
  • Rishabh Pant16 (8b)
  • Hamid Hassan3-0-20-0
  • Gulbadin Naib4-0-39-1
17.6
1lb
Hamid Hassan to Pandya, 1 leg bye, good response, hits a hard length and angles it into the body. Pandya can't find the room to pull, and the ball hits his elbow and rolls into the backward point region. Ouch
17.5
4
Hamid Hassan to Pandya, FOUR, looks for the yorker, ends up bowling a low full-toss on the pads, and now Pandya brings his wrists into play and leaves deep midwicket a spectator as the ball scuds away to his right
17.4
4
Hamid Hassan to Pandya, FOUR, back of a length on off stump, and that's nicely put away. Clears his front leg and muscles a pull to beat deep midwicket sprinting to his right. Slower ball, but it didn't really grip the surface
17.3
1
Hamid Hassan to Pant, 1 run, nicely bowled. Slower yorker at Pant's feet, and he pulls his front leg out of the way and creates just enough room to be able to flick through square leg
17.2
1
Hamid Hassan to Pandya, 1 run, slower ball, back of a length, spinning in from just outside off, chopped into the covers while cramped for room
17.1
4
Hamid Hassan to Pandya, FOUR, super shot. Low full-toss on leg stump, not always easy to put away, but he gets his front leg quickly out of the way and whips it powerfully to find the gap between long-on and deep midwicket

Hamid Hassan returns.

END OF OVER:
17 | 15 Runs 1 Wkt | IND: 160/2 | RR: 9.41

  • Rishabh Pant15 (7b)
  • Hardik Pandya1 (1b)
  • Gulbadin Naib4-0-39-1
  • Rashid Khan4-0-36-0
16.6
6
Gulbadin Naib to Pant, SIX, and again, this one's much cleaner too! Again the wide line ends up as a fullish length ball rather than a blockhole ball, and Pant sinks down onto his back knee as he lets go of the bottom hand and lofts it cleanly over the straight long-off boundary. Clears the rope and the advertising hoardings with ease this time
16.5
6
Gulbadin Naib to Pant, SIX, one-handed, and it's juuuuuust cleared the rope! Looks for that wide line again, but it's not quite full enough to force Pant to hit it square. Reaches out, frees his left arm, and swings through the line to hit it over the bowler's head and just clear the rope

Back around the wicket to Pant.

16.4
1
Gulbadin Naib to Pandya, 1 run, offcutter on a hard length, comes in towards leg stump to deny him room, and he punches watchfully to long-on

Here's Hardik Pandya.

Match Coverage

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Afghanistan 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st13Mohammad ShahzadHazratullah Zazai
2nd0Hazratullah ZazaiRahmanullah Gurbaz
3rd35Gulbadin NaibRahmanullah Gurbaz
4th11Gulbadin NaibNajibullah Zadran
5th10Mohammad NabiNajibullah Zadran
6th57Mohammad NabiKarim Janat
7th1Rashid KhanKarim Janat
8th17Sharafuddin AshrafKarim Janat

ICC Men's T20 World Cup

First Round Group A
TeamMWLPTNRR
SL33063.754
NAM3214-0.523
IRE3122-0.853
NED3030-2.46
First Round Group B
TeamMWLPTNRR
SCOT33060.775
BAN32141.733
OMA3122-0.025
PNG3030-2.655
Group 1
TeamMWLPTNRR
ENG54182.464
AUS54181.216
SA54180.739
SL5234-0.269
WI5142-1.641
BAN5050-2.383
Group 2
TeamMWLPTNRR
PAK550101.583
NZ54181.162
IND53261.747
AFG52341.053
NAM5142-1.89
SCOT5050-3.543