Asia Cup: Shahzad steals the show as India, Afghanistan earn A in sensational tie

Ajit Vijaykumar 00:09 26/09/2018
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  • India and Afghanistan played out a brilliant tie in their Asia Cup Super Four clash on Tuesday as Rashid Khan bowled the final over with seven needed and Ravindra Jadeja on strike and one wicket in hand.

    Jadeja hit the second ball of the over for a four over mid-wicket and the Indians took quick singles off the next two balls to make it one needed from two balls.

    Rashid (2-41) bowled a half-tracker and Jadeja smashed it to midwicket only to be caught by a running Najibullah Zadran as the match ended in a tie.

    It was a deserved result for Afghanistan after Mohammad Shahzad smashed a belligerent century while veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi hit a fine fifty as they posted a challenging total of 252-8 after looking like finishing under 200 for most part.

    It was a special game for India fans as wicketkeeper MS Dhoni captained the Indian team for the 200th time in ODIs. The men in blue rested five players as they had already qualified for the final.

    Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah were all benched. India thus remained unbeaten in the competition.

    New opening pair of KL Rahul (60) and Ambati Rayudu (57) spared no Afghan bowler as the two added 110 runs for the first wicket and set the stage for a thrilling finish.

    THE GOOD

    Shahzad’s bravado – Afghanistan wicketkeeper and opener considers Dhoni as his role model. He has even modeled his batting on that of the Indian. With Dhoni in charge, Shahzad brought out all his shots as Afghanistan looked to make one final, and possibly the biggest, statement in the Asia Cup. His seven sixes were laced with power and attitude, with the six over mid wicket off Deepak Chahar in the fourth over particularly audacious.

    Kuldeep’s spell – Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was the one bowler who kept a tight leash on the scoring. In his first six overs, Kuldeep gave away just eight runs and also picked up two wickets. He went for 30 runs in the last four overs but still ended up respectable figures. With his economical spell early, Afghanistan would have scored 275.

    THE BAD

    top1

    Afghanistan top order – With Shahzad going hammer and tongs, all he needed was someone to give him company. But the rest of the top five did not even reach double figures. When Shahzad reached his century, the team total was 131. It was left to lower order batsman Nabi to push the scoring. Just one decent contribution from the top order would have taken closer to 270 and maybe even beyond.

    KL Rahul’s review – The opener had crossed fifty and had added more than 100 with Rayudu. He had survived a stumping decision off Rashid Khan but instead of calming down, he tried to reverse sweep and was out lbw. It looked a plumb decision but he reviewed anyway and India lost their review.

    KEY MOMENTS

    Afghanistan innings

    8.5 overs Shahzad dropped – The keeper was batting on 49 when he drove Siddarth Kaul to mid off where Rayudu grassed a simple catch. The opener made India pay for their lapse as he notched up his maiden ODI century against a major nation.

    15.2 and 15.3 overs Kudleep strikes – The left-arm wrist spinner tied the Afghan batsman in knots as he first beat Hashmatullah Shahidi in the air to be stumped before rattling the stumps of captain Asghar Afghan first ball. Afghanistan had gone from 65-0 to 82-4 and India were right back in the match.

    46.1 overs Nabi hits Kaul into the top tier – Afghanistan were slowing down and were at 231-7. Nabi needed to make a statement and he did so by depositing Kaul to the stands for a 100m six. Afghanistan managed to cross the 250-run mark.

    India innings

    KL Rahul.

    KL Rahul.

    9.2 overs Rahul hits a clean six of Mujeeb – Teenage spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman was one of two main spinners in Afghanistan’s bowling and how India handled him was going to be critical. Opener Rahul took matters onto his own hands as he lofted the bowler over extra cover for a six.

    25.5 overs Dhoni unlucky to be out lbw – Playing his 200th ODI as captain, Dhoni would have hoped for some luck. However, he was adjudged lbw off the bowling of Javed Ahmadi even though the ball looked like missing the leg stump. But Rahul had wasted India’s review and Dhoni had no option but to walk off as replays showed the ball to be missing the stumps.

    KEY TURNING POINT

    Rashid’s last over

    Rashid was struggling with hamstring trouble but he bowled the final over and despite being hit for a four of the second ball, kept his cool. He bowled the perfect ball that Jadeja thought he could hit for a six but sailed safely to midwicket.

    VERDICT

    India A

    A good performance from the Indian team. They did not have five main players but still put in a decent performances in both departments. However dropping Shahzad and the a forgettable bowling efort from seamers Chahar and Kaul were negatives.

    Afghanistan A

    The Afghans have been the most consistent team of the tournament. They have fought every match and taken it right down to the wire. They narrowly lost to Pakistan and Bangladesh and on Tuesday, earned a tie after Indian seemed to be coasting as the openers starred in a century stand. Super effort from the Afghans.

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