NEW DELHI
\nWorld Cup hosts India sailed to their second successive win of the event following captain Rohit Sharma\u2019s incendiary century in one of the finest knocks in tournament\u2019s history set up their eight-wicket thrashing of Afghanistan on Wednesday.
\nWorld Cup hosts India cantered to their second successive win of the tournament after captain Rohit Sharma\u2019s incendiary century set up their eight-wicket thrashing of Afghanistan on Wednesday.
\nRohit belted 131 off 84 balls, clobbering five sixes and 16 fours, as twice champions India chased down a 273-run victory target with 15 overs to spare at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
\nVirat Kohli made 55 not, sealing the easy win with a boundary as the tournament hosts maintained their red-hot form ahead of Saturday\u2019s much-anticipated clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in Ahmedabad.
\nElecting to bat, Afghanistan were 63-3 in the 14th over before skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (80) and Azmatullah Omarzai (62) combined in a 121-run stand to frustrate India.
\nA total in the vicinity of 300 looked within their reach but Afghanistan lost a clutch of wickets towards the end to settle for a total which proved inadequate against India\u2019s formidable batting lineup.
\n\u201cIt was a good pitch to bat. I was backing myself to play my natural game,\u201d Rohit said after collecting the player-of-the-match award.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s my responsibility to give the team a good start as much as possible. It\u2019s something I\u2019ve done for a while and love.
\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t always come off but need to keep the mindset positive.\u201d
\nIndia had to wait until the seventh over for a breakthrough after Hashmatullah elected to bat at a venue, which produced a 754-run slugfest on Saturday.
\nJasprit Bumrah (4-39) drew first blood when he had Ibrahim Zadran caught behind for 22.
\nWhile Mohammed Siraj served the occasional freebies, Bumrah stifled the Afghan batters in his impeccable first spell which read 4-0-9-1.
\nFollowing the dismissal of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah forged a 121-run partnership with Omarzai to arrest their slide and frustrate India.
\nHardik Pandya hit the top of Omarzai\u2019s off-stump and Kuldeep Yadav removed Hashmatullah to trigger a mini-collapse denying the Afghans a late flourish that could have taken them near the 300-mark.
\nRohit became the first batter to smash five hundreds in a single World Cup in the tournament\u2019s previous edition in England and Wales four years ago.
\nHis appetite looked undimmed as the elegant right-hander led India\u2019s chase by example with his dazzling strokeplay.
\nFazalhaq Farooqi suffered the most as Rohit stepped out to hit the left-arm quick over the long-off rope and smash back-to-back fours in that same over to set the tone for their chase.
\nRashid Khan was Afghanistan\u2019s best bet against a rampaging Rohit but the spinner was introduced only in the 15th over with India sitting pretty at 125 for no loss.
\nRohit raced to a 63-ball hundred, taking a single off Mohammad Nabi, but Rashid struck in his third over dismissing Ishan Kishan (47) to break the 156-run opening stand.
\nRohit treated Rashid with disdain, hitting him for back-to-back fours and following it with a six, but the spinner eventually had his revenge.
\nRohit lost his stumps to Rashid attempting a slog-sweep but Kohli stayed put to guide India home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI World Cup hosts India sailed to their second successive win of the event following captain Rohit Sharma\u2019s incendiary century in one of the finest knocks in tournament\u2019s history set up their eight-wicket thrashing of Afghanistan on Wednesday. World Cup hosts India cantered to their second successive win of the tournament after captain Rohit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-361099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n