The 5th match of the Asia Cup 2022 super-four stage kicked off with India taking on Afghanistan in the dead rubber clash on Thursday. The match was played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bowl first.
On a pitch that was slightly tacky, the Indian batters in Virat Kohli and KL Rahul were watchful at the start of the innings and rotated the strike well to ensure that the number of dots remains less. Rahul, who was the skipper for this game, looked in great form, scoring a beautiful 62 off 41 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes to help India race to 119 in 12.3 overs.
Virat Kohli was very watchful in the beginning and took his time to get going at the start but once he got used to the pace of the pitch, he was carting the spinners with aplomb and used his feet very well against them. He was particularly severe on Rashid and Mujeeb. As the innings progressed, he tore into the Afghan pace attack as well.
He got to the century with a well timed six off Fazalhaq Farooqi. There was happiness and joy on his face as his teammates applauded. The stadium went into ruptures as he scored his 71st century which also was his maiden T20I century. This glorious innings contained 12 fours and 6 sixes, and the 122 runs came off just 61 balls.
This allowed India to put up a massive total of 212-2 on the board. In the second innings, Afghanistan knew that they had to make the powerplay count to have a chance in this game. However, it did not transpire as Bhuvneshwar Kumar ran riot over the Afghan batsman and reduced them to 9-4 in his 2 over spell.
He accounted for the wickets of Zazai, Gurbaz, Karim Janat and Najibullah Zadran and then came back and picked up Omarzai with a good delivery to get a five-for. Arshdeep Singh picked up the wicket of Nabi leg-before.
Deepak Hooda came into the attack and picked up the wicket of the dangerous Rashid Khan with a shortish delivery. Then Mujeeb was bowled by Ashwin off a carrom ball.ย In the end, India beat Afghanistan by 101 runs
Twitter was fully abuzz, let us take a look at the reactions here:
HE IS BACK – The King Virat Kohli ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฅ
โข He Hits his 71st International Hundred vs Afghanistan in #AsiaCup2022
โข Hits Maiden T20I Century๐ฏ
โข Highest score in T20Is for India.(122*)
โข Most 50+ scores in T20Is. #ViratKohli #CricketTwitter #T20I #India #INDvsAFG เคตเคฟเคฐเคพเค เคเฅเคนเคฒเฅ pic.twitter.com/1hVHvNJKAH— OMKAR VERMA (@iOmkarVerma) September 8, 2022
I am supporting team #India tonight vs #Afghanistan.
Because open & graceful enemy is way better than hypocrite.#AsiaCup2022 #AsifAli pic.twitter.com/PfHuhzLn0q— ู ุดฺฉ (@Mushq1010) September 8, 2022
๐ #ASIACup #T20I Match #LIVE #Tonight #INDIAvsAFGHANISTAN #DubaiInternationalStadium #Dubai #UnitedArabEmirates itself@BCCI#INDvsAFG #INDIA vs #AFGHANISTAN#ASIACup2022 #Super4's#T20 #International #Cricket #Match #UAE #ASIA
Cmon #TeamINDIA #Win this for #Pride!#AmittARORA pic.twitter.com/z2crjltAW1— ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐ยฎ (@Amitt_ARORA) September 8, 2022
So it begins …#India vs #Afghanistan
It is last match before #Pakistan vs #SriLanka #Final .#AsiaCup2022 #AsiaCup2022Final
— Salman Sikandar (@SALSIKandar) September 8, 2022
King Kohli is scored 122(61) ๐ฅ๐ฅ
IND Vs AFGINDIA scored 212/2#rivalry #indvafg #twoteams #sport #cricket #afghanistan #gsamediaoffl #gsamedia #hotstar #today #world #indiancricket #india #twitter #facebook #instagram #trending @imVkohli#century
FOLLOW FOR MORE ๐๐ ๐ pic.twitter.com/fYIInXQUtC
— GSA Media (@gsamediaoffl) September 8, 2022
Breaking News:
If India restrict Afghanistan under 100 and chase the target in 6 overs. Then both teams could reach the airport three hours earlier… #AsiaCup2022 #india vs #Afghanistan #IndianCricketTeam pic.twitter.com/PkXJ3yORaY
— Prof. Rasool (@G_R_Mughal) September 8, 2022
After todayโs India vs Afghanistan match. In this Asia cup. #india
Highest team total
Best bowling figure
Highest individual score
Highest wicket taker
Most run by a batsman
And narration! One bad day cost India Asia cup#indiancricket#INDvsAFG#asiacup2022#FabieBaby— ManojKankane (@KankaneManoj) September 8, 2022
Highlights of #India vs #afghanistan #T20WorldCup21 pic.twitter.com/KI6LSmVaQh
— Waqas Ahmad (@beingwaqasahmad) November 3, 2021
Intijar ka phal mitha ho ta he…..congratulation virat sir wonderfull performance today #india vs #Afghanistan @imVkohli @BCCI @ICC pic.twitter.com/3w6YjRuTJa
— MADHUSUDAN SETHI (@MADHUSU10414381) September 8, 2022
What a knock by #king #ViratKohli๐ต #India vs Afghanistan#King is back๐#71st century pic.twitter.com/F92FFqkCKi
— Shivam Kumar (@K16452547Shivam) September 8, 2022
