India vs Afghanistan | Irrepressible Bumrah Delivers Yet Again For Captain Kohli

India underperformed with the bat and gave their bowlers a moderate 224 to defend against Afghanistan at Southampton.

The onus was on their bowlers to defend the target and save India from a defeat.

Jasprit Bumrah had to lead from the front. One of the finest bowlers in contemporary limited overs cricket, Bumrah has had a mixed bag World Cup 2019 and wasn't at his usual best in India’s three wins thus far in the tournament.

But Saturday, the 22nd of June was a different day!

Economical Opening Spell

Bumrah, along with his new ball partner, Mohammed Shami did not let the Afghanistan batsmen get off to a flyer and though they did not get a lot of wickets up front, they kept the batsmen on a tight leash.

Bumrah and Shami bowled the initial 8 overs in tandem and conceded just 26 runs.

Bumrah conceded just 13 runs from his first 4 overs bowling as many as 15 dot balls – this means that 15 of his first 24 deliveries weren’t scored off – in the first powerplay with the fielding restrictions. He gave away just one boundary in this opening spell. He bowled a fuller length and created half chances constantly crossing the 140 km per hour speed mark.

Match-Changing Second Spell

Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi had put together a defiant 42-run stand for the third-wicket for Afghanistan and taken them to 106 for 2 in the 29th over. India needed to break the threatening partnership and were in desperate need for a wicket.

The win predictor gave a 82.6% probability of Afghanistan winning the encounter.

India were under pressure. Kohli brought back his ace bowler – Bumrah.

And he did not disappoint!

After conceding 6 runs in his 5th over, Bumrah saw the back of Shah inducing a top-edge to a short ball for Yuzvendra Chahal to complete a running catch from fine leg. He then dismissed Shahidi with a short of a length ball which made the batsman uncomfortable taking the outside of the bat for a simple caught and bowled to the bowler.

Bumrah, with two wickets in an over, had changed the match on its head. He had delivered a match-changing double-wicket maiden!

He gave away just 3 runs from his 7th over.

Afghanistan could not recover from this double blow and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Their chase was completely derailed.

Brilliantly Restrictive At the Death

However a fightback from Mohammad Nabi brought Afghanistan right back into the match. 53 were needed off the last 7 overs with 4 wickets in hand,

Bumrah came in for his final spell. He bowled a magnificent 44th over giving away just 4 runs and bowling as many as three dots in the over.

Nabi kept Afghanistan in the hunt and 32 were needed off the final 4 overs with three wickets in hand. He smashed Bumrah for a six in the 47th over. However, Bumrah kept his nerve and conceded just one run from the last three deliveries of the over.

21 off the final 12. Bumrah had to bowl the penultimate over and was under pressure to leave as many as possible for Afghanistan to win in the final over. The first two deliveries were full and fast and conceded just two runs. A yorker, a fast full toss, another full ball and again a yorker – Bumrah gave away just three more of the over going for just 5 of his final over.

He had left Shami with 16 to defend off the last over and put the match out of Afghanistan’s reach.

It was a sensational spell of fast, full and accurate bowling from Bumrah who did not give the batsmen any length to get underneath the ball.

It was his double-wicket maiden in the middle overs and his outstanding last over which handed India a 11-run victory.

Bumrah ended with 2-39 from his 10 overs. He bowled as many as 37 dot deliveries and was hit for just one four and six in his spell. He was very disciplined with his line and length and did not concede a single no-ball or wide in his quota of overs.

Bumrah has an excellent ODI record and has taken 92 wickets from just 53 innings at an average of 22.5 and strike rate of 29.7. His economy rate of 4.54 is also outstanding.

His average is the best for any fast bowler in the world and second-best overall after Rashid Khan since his debut in January, 2016. His strike rate is the second-best for a pacer after Trent Boult in this time-frame while his economy makes him the most restrictive fast bowler during this period.