Suryakumar-Hardikya took India to 181/8 in the Super 8 match against Afghanistan

Bridgetown Bridgetown: Surya Kumar Yadav s brilliant half-century and his 60-run partnership with Hardik Pandya helped India win the ODI match against Barbados on Thursday. ICC T20 World Cup Scored 181/8 in 20 overs against Afghanistan in the Super Eight game.

India need to defend 182 runs to start the Super 8s with a win. After being asked to bat first, India got off to a poor start as skipper Rohit Sharma struggled to score eight runs off 13 balls before being caught by Rashid Khan at mid-on. India were 11/1 in 2.5 overs.

Rishabh Pant was the next batsman at the crease and immediately got the run-rate going with a series of clean strokes, including his signature sweep. He smashed three consecutive boundaries off Mohammad Nabi in the sixth over.

India ended the powerplay at 47/1, with Rishabh (19*) and Virat (17*) remaining unbeaten.

India crossed the 50-run mark in 6.4 overs.

Pant’s brilliant innings was cut short by Rashid Khan, who dismissed him for just 20 runs off 11 balls with four boundaries. India scored 54/2 in seven overs.

Afghanistan also got a big wicket of Virat, who caught Rashid’s ball at long-off, where the ball went into Nabi’s hands. Virat was out after scoring 24 runs in 24 balls with the help of a six. India scored 62/3 in 8.3 overs.

At half-time of the innings, India were 79/3, with Suryakumar Yadav (9*) and Shivam Dube (10*) unbeaten. In the next over, Suryakumar hit a four and a six off Rashid, but the bowler had the last laugh when Dube departed after scoring 10 runs off seven balls. In 10.5 overs, India were 90/4. Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar tackled the Afghan bowlers with more aggression and better body language and crossed the 100-run mark in 12.2 overs. It took Hardik a while to settle down, but Suryakumar launched an all-out attack against pacer all-rounder Azmatullah Umarzai, hitting him for two fours and a six. In 15 overs, India were 126/4, with Suryakumar (41*) and Hardik (13*) unbeaten. In the 16th over, Hardik hit a four and a six off Noor Ahmed. Suryakumar was playing on a completely different surface as he was dismissed after scoring 53 runs in 28 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes. India’s score was 150/5 in 17 overs. Hardik’s brilliant innings ended after he was caught out by Umarzai for 32 runs in 24 balls. Naveen Ul Haq got the wicket. Pandya’s innings included three fours and two sixes. India’s score was 159/6 in 18 overs. Ravindra Jadeja also had a short stay at the crease and could score only seven runs in five balls. He was then caught by Farooqui off Gulbadin Naib at short third man. India’s score was 165/7 in 18.4 overs. India ended their innings with a strong score. Axar hit some useful boundaries and Axar (12) was run out on the last ball. Farooqui (3/33) and Rashid (3/26) were the top bowlers for Afghanistan. Naveen got one wicket. (ANI)