STATE TIMES NEWS
BENGALURU: Skipper Rohit Sharma donned the glittering cap of saviour thrice in the night, first with a situation-defying hundred in regulation time and then with two mini assaults to help India fight past a feisty Afghanistan in a dramatic double Super Over finish in the third and final T20 here on Wednesday. The result meant that India won their final series before the T20 World Cup with a satisfying 3-0 margin.
Before Super Overs kicked in, Rohit (121 not out, 69b, 11×4, 8×6) and his perfect sidekick Rinku Singh (69 n.o, 39b, 2×4, 6×6) shared 190 runs for a stellar unbeaten fifth-wicket stand as India came back from a flaky 22 for four to post a massive 212 for four after opting to bat first.
The Afghans started gamely through openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (50, 32b) and Ibrahim Zadran (50, 41 balls) as they added 93 runs in 11 overs, building a solid foundation for the chase.
Their departure saw spinners Washington Sundar (3/18) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/31) tightening things a bit but the experienced Gulbadin Naib (55 not out off 23 balls) played some twinkling shots to keep his side in the hunt. Naib knocked off 18 runs of the required 19 off the final over bowled by pacer Mukesh Kumar, dragging the match into a Super Over.
The visitors made 16 for 1 in the first Super Over bowled by Mukesh and India equalled the score with Rohit making 13, and it stretched the game to the second Super Over. In this phase, India made 11 and Rohit made all those runs before getting run out.
Afghanistan lost both Mohammad Nabi and Gurbaz to leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi as they failed to score any runs in the second Super Over, signalling the end of a winding match. Rohit remained the star of the night among all that commotion, also silencing those who doubted his suitability to be in India’s T20 scheme of things.
