Rohit, Rinku and Gulbadin star in Chinnaswamy thriller

A record-breaking fifth T20I ton from Rohit Sharma and his 190-run stand off just 95 balls with Rinku Singh stole the show along with Gulbadin Naib’s 23-ball 55 in the final match of the three game T20I series between India and Afghanistan in Bangalore on Wednesday (January 17). Rohit and Rinku ensured that India got to a daunting total of 212 after being 22/4 at one stage while Naib’s fireworks meant that the game ended in a tie after 40 overs.

The Super Over also ended in a tie, forcing another Super Over, which India won thanks to Ravi Bishnoi’s composure under pressure, as the hosts completed the series whitewash.

Opting to bat, India found themselves in a soup during the powerplay as they lost four wickets, including that of Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson for ducks. The surface appeared to be a tad tacky early on and Afghanistan’s pacers hit the hard length consistently, also aided by some poor shot selection from India’s batters. Kohli and Samson were both undone by pull shots that didn’t seem apt for the line of the delivery while bounce undid Yashasvi Jaiswal. In between all this, Shivam Dube got a sharp away-seamer to nick one behind. At 22/4, the game looked anything like the run fest once expected the game to be.

After successive ducks, Rohit clearly needed a big score and with the team under pressure, it provided the skipper with an opportunity to make a statement. And make a statement he did! It helped him that Rinku got off the blocks quickly enough and adjusted to the surface without much fuss. In fact, Rohit took his eye time to get going and was striking at under 100 during the first 30-odd deliveries. The odd clean strike came but with a lot of rustiness in between.

After a steady start, both batters were able to unleash. It was steady acceleration during the middle overs before going ballistic at the death. One of the highlights of Rohit’s innings was his reverse sweep/switch hit which he used against Qais Ahmad. It showed the veteran’s willingness to adapt to the demands of the format, even if it wasn’t fluent always. But once he found his mojo, Rohit was unstoppable at the death and took the bowlers to the cleaners. A mind-boggling 103 runs came off the final 30 balls in the innings, including 58 off the last two overs. The 20th over, bowled by Karim Janat, went for 36 as it rained sixes at the back end.

The visitors needed a strong powerplay to stay ahead of the rate but they chose to build a platform instead, knowing that this is a ground where they could catchup. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the aggressor as he raced away to a fifty while skipper Ibrahim Zadran found the going tough with respect to upping the ante. The partnership, though, did the first job of ensuring that Afghanistan didn’t lose too many wickets upfront.

It took a blinder from Washington Sundar at short cover to break the opening stand but one brought two more for India. The Afghanistan skipper and Azmatullah Omarzai both fell shortly to Sundar as the innings hit a roadblock briefly. It seemed like the plan to make a platform for the back-end launch had backfired for Afghanistan.

Afghanistan needed 106 off 44 balls when Gulbadin and Nabi joined forces but neither seemed overawed by the task at hand. Both batters struck the ball cleanly from the get-go and the six-hitting was crisp. They added 56 off just 22 balls with Nabi being the aggressor as the game was thrown wide open again. Until Sundar returned again to make another significant impact. His wide line ploy got the better of the dangerous Nabi as India managed to regain some control.

Despite losing Nabi, Gulbadin kept on going for the visitors and it ultimately came down to 19 needed off the final over from Mukesh Kumar. The pacer missed his mark a couple of times and Gulbadin didn’t miss out, to bring the equation down to three needed off the final ball. Mukesh, however, held his nerve to close out with a wide yorker but Afghanistan got the brace needed to take the game to a Super Over.

First Super Over ends in a tie

Gulbadin walked out to bat with Gurbaz in the Super Over that was bowled by Mukesh. However, a mix up saw the all-rounder getting run out. Gurbaz and Nabi struck a blow each, followed by a controversial ending to the innings. The batters ran a bye and the throw from Samson deflected off Nabi’s leg towards long-on, with the batters running two more for it. Rohit and his mates didn’t seem amused but there wasn’t anything illegal about the running. With a target of 17 to get, the Indian captain then smoked Omarzai for successive sixes to get the equation down to three needed off two. Then with two needed off the final ball, he retired hurt to ensure that the faster runner in Rinku could capitalise. But Jaiswal could only toe-end one to the keeper, which meant just a single was possible.

India clinch the second Super Over

By now, Rohit was on his reserves, given the volume of work he had to do through the game. But the skipper hammered Fareed Ahmad for a six and a four to set up things nicely. Only for Rinku to fall first ball and then Samson ran Rohit out, leaving Afghanistan with a gettable target of 12. But Rohit and India punted with the leg spin of Bishnoi who delivered under pressure. A skiddy half-tracker first ball was flat-batted to long-off’s throat by Nabi while Gurbaz almost repeated the same mistake to fall third ball, giving India the win.

Brief scores:
India 212/4 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 121*, Rinku Singh 69*; Fareed Ahmad 3-20) tied with Afghanistan 212/6 in 20 overs (Gulbadin Naib 55*, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 50, Ibrahim Zadran 50; Washington Sundar 3-18) – India won the 2nd Super Over