NEW DELHI: On this day, two years ago, India pacer Mohammed Shami scalped a hat-trick against Afghanistan and became the second Indian to do so in the 50-over World Cup after former pacer and current chief selector Chetan Sharma.
Sharma had bagged the hat-trick against New Zealand during the 1987 edition. Shami’s exploits helped India register an 11-run win against Afganistan at Rose Bowl.
Chasing a modest target of 225 runs, Afghanistan had a poor start and then lost two quick wickets in middle-order. Asgar Afghan and Mohammad Nabi tried to build the inning but the former ended up losing his wicket to spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.
Nabi then kept strike at one-end and built brief partnerships with Najibullah Zadran (21) and Rashid Khan (14). Shami bowled the final over of the inning and Nabi hit a boundary off the first delivery.
But Nabi gave away an easy catch to Hardik Pandya at long-on on the third delivery which ended his 52-run innings. Shami then continued his sublime form and took another two wickets to complete his hat-trick as he bowled both Aftab Alam and Mujeeb Ur Rahman respectively.
The 29-year-old returned with figures of 4-40 in his 9.5 overs. Earlier, Afghanistan displayed a spirited bowling performance to restrict India to 224 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted fifty overs after being asked to bowl first.
Virat Kohli played a knock of 67 while Kedar Jadhav amassed 52 runs. India had bowed out of the 2019 World Cup after losing the semi-finals against New Zealand.
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