Bumrah's 4-for limits Afghanistan at 272/8 after fighting 80 by skipper Hasmatullah

New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) Jasprit Bumrah delivered his best bowling spell (4/39) in a 50-over World Cup to restrict Afghanistan to 272/8 in 50 overs against India in match no. 9 of the ICC World Cup 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, here on Wednesday.

Afghan skipper Hasmatullah Shahidi (80) and Azmatullah Omarzai (62) took visitors to a par-total with a crucial 100-plus stand.

Opting to bat first, Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran showcased sensibility in dealing with the new ball and added 32 runs for the opening wicket. Zadran saw the bulk of the deliveries in the first six overs and scored a 28-ball 22 before he fell to Jasprit Bumrah in the seventh over.

Gurbaz and newly-in Rahmat Shah, however, soon stitched another short 30-run stand and scored at a faster rate to take Afghanistan past the 50-run mark. Shardul Thakur soon made his selection count as he took a stunning catch of Gurbaz (21 runs off 28 balls) on the fine-leg boundary followed by trapping Shah (16 off 22) lbw in the next over.

The two wickets saw the Afghans lose initiative early in the innings as they went from 63/1 to 63/3 in the space of three deliveries. However, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai soon showed the depth of Afghanistan's batting as the duo added 100 runs for the fourth wicket to bring themselves back into the game.

Hasmat-Azmat targeted the Indian spinners and pacer Mohammed Siraj to get crucial runs in the middle overs as Afghanistan recovered to 184 runs by the 35th over. The 121-run stand, the second-highest for Afghanistan in a 50-over World Cup, was eventually ended by Hardik Pandya, who castled Omarzai in the 35th over.

Shahidi (80 off 88) tried to keep the Afghanistan innings on track with Mohammad Nabi coming in at No. 7 but the partnership was limited to 41 runs as Kuldeep Yadav sent the skipper packing in the 43rd over.

Wickets fell thick and fast from this point onwards with the re-introduction of Bumrah in the bowling attack in the 45th over. The pacer first picked two wickets in an over of Nabi (19 off 27) and Najibullah Zadran (2 off 8) and then came back in the 47th over to dismiss dangerman Rashid Khan, who played a cameo of 12-ball 16 to take Afghanistan past 250.

Bumrah, however, couldn't take a fifer as tailenders Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman (10 not out) and Naveen-ul-Haq (9 not out) saw out the remaining overs to finish the Bangladesh innings at 272/8.

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