Kedar Jadhav’s 52 and Virat Kohli’s 67 were of utmost importance to the Indian team as they set Afghanistan a 225-run target at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
While it was eventually enough on the day, all-rounder Jadhav said that the team was aware that they were short of their own target of 250 runs.
“We were targeting 250 or 260 with the bat so we were 20 or so runs short. We knew we had to make those up in the field and credit to the bowlers for defending a small total,” Jadhav said after the match.
Afghanistan needed 16-runs of the final over and Bumrah’s effort was then topped by Mohammed Shami with a final over hat-trick to wrap things up in style.
“We had belief in both our fast bowlers to do the job for us in the death,” said Jadhav.
“Bumrah is the number one in the world and we knew we just needed one wicket to break the partnership. What Shami did in the final over showed his character. He got hit for a boundary and then he got the important wicket.
India’s next assignment will be against the West Indies on Thursday, who suffered a heartbreaking five run defeat at the hands of New Zealand on Saturday.
