 "India vs Afghanistan: Rohit Sharma, Rinku Singh power Men in Blue to Super Over win in 3rd T20I, complete series sweep")
Team India overcame Afghanistan in one of the most dramatic T20I matches recently after not one, but two Super Overs had to decide the winner of the third and final T20I in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The Men in Blue had earlier overcome an earlier setback, with Rohit Sharma (121*) and Rinku Singh (69*) taking the hosts towards a total of 212/4 from being at 22/4 at one stage. However, Afghanistan’s openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (50), skipper Ibrahim Zadran (50) forged a 93-run stand before Gurbaz was dismissed in the 11th over by Kuldeep Yadav. Washington Sundar (3/18) would then remove Ibrahim Zadran and Azmatullah Omarzai in the same over, but Gulbadin Naib (55 off 23) played a few aggressive shots to keep Afghanistan alive. The experienced Mohammad Nabi (34) would soon join the party and forge a 56-run stand for the fourth wicket with Gulbadin. With Nabi however dismissed in the 17th over, it all came down to Afghanistan needing 19 off the final over. Mukesh Kumar was a victim of giving away four wides and two of those came in the 20th over, apart from being hammered for two fours and a six from Gulbadin Naib. Eighteen runs came off that over, and the scores were tied, with Afghanistan having posted 212/6.
#TeamIndia Captain @ImRo45 receives the trophy after a dramatic end to the #INDvAFG T20I series 👏👏
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 17, 2024
India win the T20I series 3⃣-0⃣@IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/9LQ8y3TFOq
The visitors made 16 for 1 in the first Super Over bowled by Mukesh and India equalled the score with Rohit making 13, and it stretched the game to the second Super Over. In this phase, India made 11 and Rohit made all those runs before getting run out. Afghanistan lost both Mohammad Nabi and Gurbaz to leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi as they failed to score any runs in the second Super Over, signalling the end of a winding match.
Ravi Bishnoi comes up trumps in the 2nd Super Over as #TeamIndia seals victory! 👌🔥#IDFCFirstBankT20ITrophy #GiantsMeetGameChangers #JioCinemaSports #INDvAFG #SuperOver pic.twitter.com/cUsqVMTrpH
— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) January 17, 2024
Rohit remained the star of the night among all that commotion, also silencing those who doubted his suitability to be in India’s T20 scheme of things. A strike-rate of 175 often will give the picture of manic hitting but his innings was anything but that. His top-order colleagues’ callousness while playing the pull shot meant that Rohit had to restrain himself in the initial part of his stay. Even Rinku displayed his destructive instincts judiciously and that gradually-building crescendo was the trademark of their alliance. The Afghanistan spinners found a hint of grip from the surface, and Rohit had to bring out a rather rare shot from his arsenal, reverse sweep to unsettle opposition spinners. In fact, a reverse sweep off leg-spinner Qais Ahmad fetched him a T20 fifty off 41 balls, a first since October 2022. But even a restraint Rohit can be a sight for sore eyes. There were those inevitable and archetypal pulls that make a Rohit innings such a compelling watch. Perhaps, a message for other top-order batters on the safe execution of that shot. The Mumbaikar’s on-one-leg pull off pacer Mohammed Saleem that sailed into second tier was an astounding shot. But once he felt that India had reached a safer shore, Rohit unleashed himself on the Afghans as 71 runs flowed from the next 28 balls he faced. The fifty soon blossomed into a hundred off 63 balls, Rohit’s first in T20 since his 111 against the West Indies at Lucknow in 2018. This was also Rohit’s highest score in T20s, surpassing his 118 against Sri Lanka at Indore in 2017. At the other end, Rinku had the simple job of keeping his end up and the left-hander did that job with maturity. Rinku, though, vented his belligerence when the opportunity presented itself, such as a flicked six off Saleem over square leg and carried on to register his second T20 fifty as the Afghans wilted under continuous onslaught. However, it was not entirely a smooth ride for the Indians as their top-order caved in against a sprightly Afghan new-ball bowlers. Yashasvi Jaiswal was the first to depart as left-arm pacer Fareed Ahmad cramped him for room, and the opener’s top-edged pull was snaffled by Mohammed Nabi in the deep. Virat Kohli lasted just one ball. Entering the field to a rapturous welcome from a packed stadium, Kohli could not negate a climbing delivery from Ahmad, slicing the pull to Zadran just inside the circle. Sanju Samson too lasted just a ball, a mistimed pull off Azmatullah Omarzai ending in the hands of Nabi. Amidst the pulling frenzy of his top-order colleagues, in-form Shivam Dube wanted to push one down to the vacant third man space, but all he could do was to nurdle the ball to Gurbaz behind the stumps. Ahmad ended his first spell with impressive figures of 3-0-10-3 as India ended the power play at a vastly underwhelming 30 for four. With inputs from PTI
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