India vs Afghanistan Man of the Match: The former Indian captain has won the match award for scoring a splendid century.
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During the 11th match of the ongoing 15th edition of the Asia Cup between India and Afghanistan in Dubai, India beat Afghanistan by 101 runs in a dead-rubber to avoid a last-position finish at the Super 4 points table.
Chasing a 213-run target, Afghanistan perhaps struggled to counter fatigue of playing back-to-back matches in different cities before countering India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. As a result, all Afghanistan managed was 111/8 in 20 overs crossing the 100-run mark only because of veteran India wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik conceding 18 runs in his first over in international cricket.
A maiden T20I half-century at a strike rate of 108.47 for Afghanistan batter Ibrahim Zadran (64*) might have given him some confidence but did no good for the team.
A second T20I five-wicket haul for Kumar saw him picking career-best bowling figures of 4-1-4-5. Regaining his knack after two dismal performances at the same venue, Kumar was able to swing the new ball at will reducing the opposition to 9/4 in three overs.
Only the fifth T20I five-wicket haul among Indian bowlers, Kumar picked the 14th best T20I bowling figures among all bowlers. An economy rate of 1 witnessed Kumar registering the joint eighth-best economy rate in this format.
India vs Afghanistan Man of the Match today
A tad bit unlucky to not win the Player of the Match award in spite of a magnificent spell, Kumar lost the match award to former captain Virat Kohli.
Opening the batting only for the ninth time in his 96th T20I innings, Kohli brought a sigh for relief to a million of Indians after scoring a long-awaited 71st international century. Having scored 122* (61) with the help of 12 fours and six sixes at a strike rate of 200, Kohli made the most of a 119-run opening partnership alongside captain KL Rahul (62) to power India to 212/2 in 20 overs.
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Playing his 104th T20I, Kohli won a Player of the Match in this format for the 13th time. Kohli, who scored an international century after 1,020 days tonight, won a T20I match award after 1,008 days.
“Firstly, I am grateful for how the day went today. Time away from the game gave me a good chance to sit back and observe a lot of things about me,” Kohli told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.
