Shardul Thakur in action during Cricket World Cup 2023© X (formerly Twitter)
Shardul Thakur impressed both fans and experts alike with a brilliant catch to dismiss Rahmanullah Gurbaz during the Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Afghanistan on Wednesday. During the 13th over of the Afghanistan innings, Gurbaz was taken aback by a short ball from Hardik Pandya and he ended up miscuing his shot towards the deep backward square leg boundary. Shardul anticipated the catch brilliantly as he took it calmly, flicked the ball away as he crossed the boundary line and came back in time to complete it properly. The crowd showed their appreciation for Shardul as celebrations erupted.
Hasmatullah Shahidi’s dogged 80 and the young Azmatullah Omarazai’s gutsy 62 took Afghanistan to 272 for eight in their Cricket World Cup 2023 contest.
Skipper Shahidi walked the talk as Afghanistan put up a much-improved effort with the bat compared to what they had managed in their tournament opener against Bangladesh.
His 121-run stand for the fourth wicket with 23-year-old Omarzai allowed Afghanistan to post a fighting total.
At 211 or four in 40 overs, Afghanistan looked likely to get close to 300 but India bowlers did well to stem the flow of runs. Jasprit Bumrah was by the far the best bowler for the home team, delivering in both the powerplay and the death overs to end with figures of 4 for 39 in 10 overs. This is Bumrah’s best figures in a World Cup game.
The ball did not turn much but Kuldeep Yadav ended with tidy figures of one for 40 in 10 overs.
(With PTI inputs)
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