Dodging a potential banana peel, India on Saturday remained undefeated in this World Cup but couldn’t have been harder pushed by Afghanistan, who fell just 11 runs short of chasing down a miser 224 for eight sported by Virat Kohli & Co in a thrilling encounter.
While Jasprit Bumrah once again proved he is the crown jewel of this bowling attack with his double-wicket maiden and brilliant penultimate over of the innings, it was his fellow pacer Mohammed Shami who delivered the death blow and became only the second Indian - after Chetan Sharma - and 10th player to bag a World Cup hat-trick.
CWC History 2nd Indian bowler take a Hat trick 🔥❤ #shami #TeamIndia #INDvAFG #IndiavsAfghanistan pic.twitter.com/awlTYWbGsm
— Abimanyu Patriot🇮🇳 (@Abimanyu_71298) June 22, 2019
Shami, who wouldn't have played this game had Bhuvneshwar Kumar been fit, turned out to become the one to secure India’s victory with this historic hat-trick, which began with the prized scalp of Nabi and ended with a whirring yorker that demolished the stumps of No.11 Mujeeb. There was a point, when the game dangled dangerously when Nabi smeared a hard-to-hit low full-toss off Shami across the boundary to leave Afghanistan needing 12 off the last five balls with three wickets in hand. But the pacer followed it with a dot ball and dismissed Nabi, Aftab Alam, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman in successive deliveries (two of them lethal yorkers) and by the end of his spell, Shami had finished with 4 wickets for 40 runs off 9.5 overs. Take a bow!
What a way to end it @MdShami11! 🎩🎩🎩 Nabi c Pandya b Shami Alam b Shami Ur Rahman b Shami India take an absolute thriller by 11 runs. Watch the winning (and hat-trick) moment here!#INDvAFG | #TeamIndia | #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/q9fYvcR56z — ICC (@ICC) June 22, 2019