ICC Men's T20 WC'24: Suryakumar, Bumrah Lead India to 47-Run Win Over Afghanistan

Top-ranked batsman Suryakumar Yadav played a remarkable innings of 53 runs from 28 balls, while Jasprit Bumrah, in top form, spearheaded the bowling attack with an impressive performance of 3 wickets for 7 runs. This led India to maintain their unbeaten streak in the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup with a convincing 47-run victory over Afghanistan in their first Super Eight match at the Kensington Oval. Suryakumar's aggressive yet precise batting made a significant impact, striking five fours and three sixes at a striking rate of 189.

Suryakumar Yadav's partnership of 60 runs with Hardik Pandya (32) and a quick cameo of 12 runs from Axar Patel helped India accelerate, adding 56 runs in the final five overs. This was despite the efforts of Afghanistan's captain Rashid Khan and left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi, who both claimed three wickets each. The pitch conditions made scoring challenging, as Rohit Sharma struggled against Farooqi, managing only a fortuitous boundary. Rohit also survived an LBW appeal after review, with replays confirming the ball pitched outside leg-stump. Farooqi struck early in the third over when Rohit mistimed his shot off an off-cutter, skying the ball to mid-on off the toe-end.

Rishabh Pant began attacking from the word go by stylishly flicking Farooqi for four, followed by reverse-sweeping, slog-sweeping and driving through cover to take three fours off Mohammad Nabi as the final over of Power-play yielded 13 runs. But Pant was beaten while trying to reverse-sweep a leg-break delivery off Rashid and was trapped plumb lbw for 12-ball 20, with the review showing it would have hit the stumps.

Suryakumar kept India going with his variety of sweeps, fetching him three boundaries, even as Rashid trapped Shivam Dube LBW with a quicker legbreak that went past his attempted jab. Suryakumar left everyone in awe by moving across and whipping a low full toss from Azmatullah Omarzai for four, followed by driving him through mid-off for another boundary. With Pandya timing his drives for boundaries, Suryakumar proceeded to smack a drive from Omarzai down the ground for six.

Pandya tore into Noor Ahmad by going inside-out beautifully over extra cover for four, followed by smashing a six straight down the ground. Pandya smacked Naveen for a 98-metre six clubbed over the terrace of the stadium before holing out to deep point off the pacer in the 18th over. India’s plans for a big finish were given another big dent when Ravindra Jadeja uppercut to short third man and become Farooqi’s third scalp. 

Rahmanullah Gurbaz provided Afghanistan with a rapid start in their chase, hitting a boundary and a six off Arshdeep in the first over. However, the aggressive batsman was deceived by a cutter from Bumrah while attempting a shot over cover, resulting in an outside edge caught by the wicketkeeper. Ibrahim Zadran attempted a slash towards point off Arshdeep's bowling, but Kohli dropped a straightforward catch. Bumrah returned with an off-cutter that gripped the pitch, inducing a leading edge from Hazratullah Zazai's bat towards backward point.

India's triple breakthroughs significantly raised Afghanistan's required run rate, despite Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib hitting five boundaries between them by the halfway mark. However, following a drinks break, Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Naib, who mistimed a shot straight to the keeper, breaking their 44-run partnership. Soon after, Ravindra Jadeja got Omarzai caught at long-on, further solidifying India's control. From then on, the outcome seemed inevitable as Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh both secured three-wicket hauls, while Kuldeep Yadav marked his T20 World Cup debut with two crucial wickets in India's comfortable victory.