World Cup 2019: Shock Laga?

Mohammed Shami celebrates his hat-trick on Saturday. Pic/AFP

Southampton: It was supposed to be a stroll in the park for India when they faced minnows Afghanistan in the World Cup at Ageas Bowl here on Saturday. But what they got was beyond anybody's wildest expectations. Opting to bat first on a sluggish pitch, India could manage only 224-8 and it required a Herculean effort by their bowlers, including a hat-trick by Mohammed Shami off the final three delivers of the match, to registered a hard-fought 11-run win to remain unbeaten the tournament.

Though India survived by the skin of their teeth, it was a type of match they required going into the business end of the tournament. Having won their fourth match in five games, with one washout, being lucky to pocket two points from this game, India can now look forward to the remaining matches against West Indies, England, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with fair amount of confidence to finish among the Top 4 and make it to the knockouts.

India captain Virat Kohli seems stunned after being dismissed by Afghanistan's Mohd Nabi. Pic/Bipin Patel

For once, the Indian top-order failed to fire and that put the middle order under pressure and as a result they could not post a big enough total. The Afghanistan batsmen deserve all the plaudits for fighting tooth and nail right till the end against a team which are considered one of the favourites.

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Of course, credit is due to the Indian bowlers who bowled their hearts out in defending a below-par total. Barring Hardik Pandya, all the other four bowlers were parsimonious, giving away less than four an over. And the cherry on the cake was Shami's hat-trick. The performance of the bowlers is the major plus the team will take into their remaining games.

Much of the blame for the below-par performance falls squarely on the shoulders of the batsmen. The openers did not give the team a solid start as Rohit Sharma was castled by a beautiful delivery by Mujeeb ur Rahman. And when the other opener KL Rahul played an unnecessary reverse sweep soon after and lost his wicket, the Indian batting came under pressure for the first time in this World Cup.

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The problem with the India batting was that they were too circumspect with MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav being the main culprits. The two consumed a lot of deliveries while Pandey was cooling his heels in the pavilion. But Afghanistan bowlers deserve the pat for the way they used the slow pitch to their advantage.

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