CHENNAI: A clinical performance helped India defeat Afghanistan by nine wickets in the third ODI and clean sweep the series 3-0 at the MA Chidambaram stadium here on Saturday evening.
Yashasvi Jaiswal responded to critics with a comprehensive, unbeaten ton in Chepauk. Rohit Sharma also dazzled with a 79-run knock. The duo registered a solid opening stand worth 170 runs that put India on track for a win. The chase was complete in the 29th over. This also marks Shubman Gill's first ODI series win as captain. Earlier, Prasidh Krishna's 5/23 enabled India to restrict Afghanistan to 218, with skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi's knock (102) one of the few silver linings.
Chasing 219, the hosts got off to a good start with Jaiswal striking the ball well. He struck three boundaries in the very first over of the innings by Azmatullah Omarzai to the delight of the crowd. While Rohit initially showed intent — he struck three boundaries off Fareed Ahmed — he took the cautious route on the course of the match. But when Rashid Khan was brought into the attack, he milked runs off the ace spinner to notch up his 62nd fifty in ODI's. But his innings was not that fluent as it used to be.
His knock ended when an ambitious pull landed straight into the hands of Sediqullah Atal (substitute) at deep mid-wicket with Mohammad Nabi taking the prized scalp.
Later, Jaiswal's six off Nabi ringed in his second ODI hundred. After that Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer rattled up the remaining runs to register a win.
"Yes, I really enjoyed (the century). Initially, I got some runs in powerplay, so I just wanted to keep going and play till the end. So I was really enjoying it," Jaiswal told the broadcaster after the match.
Jaiswal revealed that Rohit had a hand in his unbeaten ton.
"Rohit Bhaiya is always helpful. And I always ask questions, a lot of questions to him and try to implement in the game. Today as well, when I was getting dot balls, I asked what should I do then. He was telling me, just try to rotate the strike and the intent should be there. So I was keeping my intent and rotating the strike. So that really helped me," revealed Jaiswal.
Earlier, Shahidi's 102 helped Afghanistan post 218 runs. the Afghan skipper was precise in his shot selection and used the pace of the ball to score runs effortlessly. His uppercut of the in-form Prasidh Krishna had grace written all over it. He dealt with the India medium-pacers like Prince Yadav, Brar and Nitish Kumar Reddy with ease. He used his feet well against spinners Harsh Dubey and Washington Sundar.
Dubey, playing his second ODI, was impressive on a surface that became conducive for batting as the game progressed. Shahidi and Omarzai who added 105 runs in 117 balls for the fifth wicket, were the ones behind the visitors' fruitful phase.
Opting to bat, Afghanistan had a disastrous start losing Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the seventh ball of the match.
It was Prasidh Krishna who struck in his very first ball.
Gurbaz's half-hearted push ends up as a outside-edge, with Rohit Sharma at first slip makes no mistake of the offering.
It had rained in the city on Friday night and it was cloudy too on Saturday morning. So the wicket appeared to have moisture in the wicket and the seamers Prasidh and Brar exploited this The Karnataka bowler was at his best and accounted for three more wickets. He single handedly broke the spine of the visitors top order.
Afghanistan, with the ability to upset any team in the world are sadly still learning the nuances of One-day cricket.
Batter after batter from Afghanistan got out due to poor shot selection. It is clear from their approach that they are still learning how to pace their innings in the 50-over format
