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Captain’s century helps India beat Afghanistan in World Cup 2023
Rohit Sharma's 131 of 84 balls broke multiple ODI records
Indian Captain Rohit Sharma lead from the front to guide his team to a comfortable win against Afghanistan in their second match, which was played at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium. India won by eight wickets to take the second spot on the overall points table, which is being led by New Zealand.
Winning the toss, Afghanistan chose to bat first. Their openers Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz managed to put up 32 runs on the board before Jasprit Bumrah sent the former back to the stands. The ace Indian bowler went on to pick three more wickets to become the highest wicket taker of the match.
Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi was the leading run scorer for his side scoring 80 off 88 along with Azamatullah Omarzai (62 off 69) who partnered for 121 runs. However, Hardik Pandya’s two wickets as well as one each by Kudeep Yadav and Shardul Thakar wrapped up the Afghanistan innings for 272 runs.
In the chase, Rohit Sharma appeared to be in top form as he blasted 16 fours and five sixes covering all sides of the Arun Jaitley Stadium. His 131 in 84 balls broke multiple records including Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most World Cup hundreds. Sharma scored his seventh century while the former Indian captain held the record for six.
Additionally, Sharma’s 63-ball century broke the fastest century by an Indian record held by another Indian captain, Kapil Dev who smashed the ton in 72 balls against Zimbabwe in 1983. Sharma also became the joint-fastest batters to reach 1000 Cricket World Cup runs, doing so in just 19 innings, the same as Australian batter David Warner.
Sharma’s powerful innings accompanied by Virat Kohil’s 55 runs and Ishan Kishan’s 47 runs sealed the match in India’s favour in 35 overs. “This was a good pitch to bat on. Backed myself to play my natural game. It feels special to get a World Cup century,” the skipper, who was the player of the match, said.
The Men in Blue will next face arch-rivals Pakistan in the World’s biggest Cricket Stadium, the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. A cultural program featuring a live performance by Bollywood singing sensation Arijit Singh is planned before the match. Superstars of the Indian film industry such as Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth are reportedly going to be in attendance.
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