Cut-Throat Competition - 3rd T20I - Afghanistan Tour of India

What a contest! The 3rd T20I between India and Afghanistan was nothing less than a war between the two greatest. Greatest treat for Cricket lovers around the world.

Both the teams were merciless against each other. Both have an agenda, India wanted to maintain their winning streak and end the T20I series (3-0). Afghanistan was desperate for a win, they didn’t want to go back home without a win.

Though India has already secured the trophy in their hands, winning this match was icing on the cake. What was so special about this match? 

Well, the match resulted in a draw. Now teams had a super over to decide their fate. Guess what! We witness another super over. And guess what now?

India won the match.

We do not get to witness this often - matches concluding with a super over, one after the other!

Match Preview

India won the toss and decided to bat first.

First Innings

Things didn’t start well for India. Jaiswal could not stay in the match for long. Kohli got out at duck. The star performer, deadly Dube, could not showcase his magic in the match and got out by just scoring one run. The middle order failed badly. This was the time when India was losing all its hope of winning the match.

But the captain, Rohit Sharma, played like a captain should, and scored a massive (121) runs. Rinku Singh assisted him by scoring (69) runs, their partnership took the score to (212) runs.

Except for Fareed Ahmad, bowlers could stop the dua of Sharma and Singh from hitting boundaries. Fareed took (3) wickets, Azmatullah took one and the other did only one job - letting the duo score more.

Second Innings

Hats off to Afghanistan for a commendable performance. The team confronted the target with wisdom and teamwork. India’s batting was not satisfactory, on the contrary, Afghanistan's batters slowly reached the target.

The top three batters - Gurbaz, Zadran, and Gulbadin scored (50), (50), and (55) runs respectively. These runs allowed Afghanistan to stay in the match.

The Indian bowlers tried hard to stop the runs but failed except Washington, who took (3) wickets. Kuldeep Yadav took one and the rest of the bowlers were unlucky.

The consistent batting scored (212) runs and the match resulted in a draw.

Here comes the Super Over

Afghanistan batted first. Gulbadin was on strike. Mukesh Kumar was bowling. Tensions were high. A yorker from Mukesh, the batters ran for two, but Gulbadin got out by a sharp throw from Kohli at the keeper’s end.

In the next balls, Nabi and Gurbaz scored (16) runs for Afghanistan in the first over.

Now for the second innings, Rohit and Jaiswal opened up. India needed (17) runs off (6) balls. Two sixes from Rohit somewhat concluded the match but Afghanistan was still fighting. India could only score (16) runs and we had another super over.

Here comes Another Super Over

Told you! It was really a cut-throat competition. Was this the final over that would conclude the match?

This time, India was batting first. Rohit hit a hard six in the first ball. Then a four on the next delivery. Soon, Rinku’s wicket fell in the (4th) ball. In the next delivery, Rohit got out and failed to complete a run.

Now Afghanistan had to score (12) runs in (6) balls. Rohit played a little differently and handed the bowl to Ravi Bishnoi. It worked like magic. Ravi’s magical spin swept the team in the third ball, and both the batsmen were caught out.

It was a thrilling contest, wasn’t it?

Player of the Match - Rohit Sharma

Player of the Series - Shivam Dube

With the conclusion of this match after the second super over, India wins the T20I series by (3-0), whitewashing Afghanistan in the Afghanistan Tour of India 2024.