Scorecard
India 210/2 (Sharma 74, Rahul 69; Janat 1-7)
Afghanistan 144/7 (Janat 42*, Nabi 35; Shami 3-32)
India won by 66 runs
Report
India kept their T20 World Cup semi-final hopes alive with a dominant 66-run victory over Afghanistan in their Super 12s clash in Abu Dhabi.
The pressure was on Virat Kohli’s men after losing their first two matches to Pakistan and New Zealand respectively.
But they were never in danger of suffering a third consecutive defeat after racking up 210 for two – the highest score of the tournament so far – after losing the toss with KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma both hitting half-centuries.
Mohammed Shami then took three wickets to help limit Afghanistan to 144 for seven.
India opened up with the fourth century partnership in T20 internationals between Rahul and Sharma, which was only broken in the 15th over after they had put on 140.
Sharma picked out extra cover after a well-struck 74 from 47 deliveries off Karim Janat and Rahul followed two overs later for a 48-ball 69, with Gulbadin Naib beating him with a slower ball yorker.
The wickets only brought Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya to the crease, with the pair taking 63 runs from the final four overs.
In reply, Afghanistan fell to 13 for two in the fourth over, including a duck for Mohammad Shahzad.
Despite 19 off 10 from Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Afghanistan were always behind the pace, and only had 63 for four at the halfway mark.
They rallied towards the end of the innings, with Mohammad Nabi hitting 35 and Janat finishing unbeaten on 42 from 22, but it was not enough.
