Sharma’s century helps India beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets at Cricket World Cup

India's captain Rohit Sharma celebrates his century during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup match between Afghanistan and India in New Delhi Wednesday. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 12 October 2023
Follow

Sharma’s century helps India beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets at Cricket World Cup

  • Sharma smashed 12 fours and four sixes on his way to the fastest century for an Indian batsman in a World Cup game, finishing on 131

NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma’s quick hundred off only 63 balls helped India earn a second straight win at the Cricket World Cup by beating Afghanistan by eight wickets on Wednesday.

Sharma smashed 12 fours and four sixes on his way to the fastest century for an Indian batsman in a World Cup game, finishing on 131. He added 156 runs off 112 balls with Ishan Kishan as India steamrollered their way to 273-2.

Earlier, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai put on a 121-run partnership, the second highest ever in the World Cup for Afghanistan, as it finished on 272-8.

Sharma broke a plethora of records on the day as India joined New Zealand and Pakistan on two wins from two games.

“It was a good win for us, as it is important to get momentum going at the start of such a tournament,” Sharma said. “It was a good pitch to bat and I just backed myself to play my natural game. It is my job to set the start in run-chases, and I look to put the opposition under pressure. It is a special feeling to get another World Cup hundred.”

It was Sharma’s seventh World Cup hundred — the most by an Indian batsman — and his 31st in ODIs. He is now third on the list of all-time ODI hundreds, after compatriots Sachin Tendulkar (49) and Virat Kohli (47).

Kishan scored 47 runs off 47 balls, with five fours and two sixes. Kohli rounded up India’s night with 55 not out off 56 balls, including six fours, at his home ground.

Chasing 273, Sharma and Kishan set a hectic pace as they smacked 50 off 37 balls. The next 50 came off only 34 balls.

Sharma got to 50 off 30 balls, the second quickest in this World Cup, as he hit seven fours and two sixes. He then hit five more fours and two more sixes to score his second 50 off 33 balls. His third six took him past Chris Gayle’s tally of 553 for the most sixes in international cricket.

Kishan was out caught in the 19th over, against the run of play. Kohli then walked out to bat at his home ground with the capacity crowd at the Arun Jaitely Stadium chanting his name.

Sharma continued attacking the bowlers, scoring 29 off the next 19 balls, and added 49 off 42 balls with Kohli for the second wicket. He was bowled off Rashid Khan, trying to hit a googly out of the ground.

Kohli was joined in by Shreyas Iyer, who scored 25 not out and hit a 101-meter six. They added 68 off 56 balls for the third wicket, as India wrapped up the win with 90 balls to spare.

Earlier, Afghanistan made a cautious start after they won the toss and opted to bat. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (21) and Ibrahim Zadran (22) added 32 runs for the first wicket as the Indian pacers searched for their bearings on a flat track.

Mohammed Siraj proved expensive — he finished with 0-76 from nine overs, his joint most expensive spell in ODIs after returning the same figures against Australia on debut in 2019.

Bumrah got the breakthrough to dismiss Zadran, while Gurbaz holed out at square leg off Hardik Pandya.

Shardul Thakur, who was brought in for Ravichandran Ashwin, trapped Rahmat Shah lbw for 16.

It brought Shahidi and Azmatullah together, and they defied India’s bowlers for 128 deliveries. Their 100-run partnership came off 118 balls.

Shahidi scored 80 off 88 balls, including eight fours and a six, with his half-century coming off 58 deliveries. It was his third 50-plus score in World Cups, the most for an Afghanistan batsman.

Azmatullah also scored 50 off 62 balls, and overall scored 62 off 69 balls. He hit two fours and four sixes.

Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav bowled with great control, taking 1-40 in 10 overs. Pandya finished with 2-43 from seven overs, while Bumrah was India’s most successful bowler with 4-39.

Pandya got the breakthrough when he bowled Azmatullah in the 35th over, while Yadav trapped Shahidi lbw in the 43rd.

Afghanistan lost its last four wickets for 36 runs, with Bumrah dismissing hard-hitters Mohammad Nabi (19) and Rashid Khan (16), but finished with its second-highest World Cup total.

India’s next game is against archrival Pakistan in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

“It will be crucial for us to not think too much about external factors and just look at things we can control,” Sharma said. “We just need to show up and perform.”


Casualties in stampede at India cricket celebrations: Indian media

Updated 04 June 2025
Follow

Casualties in stampede at India cricket celebrations: Indian media

  • Broadcasters showed police carrying young children in their arms rushing away from crowds
  • India's NDTV broadcaster reported to have left at least 11 people dead

BENGALURU: A stampede broke out as a tightly packed crowd celebrated the sporting win of their home cricket team in the Indian city of Bengaluru, resulting in multiple deaths, local media reported on Wednesday.

AFP could not immediately confirm the death toll, which India's NDTV broadcaster reported to have left at least 11 people dead. The Times of India newspaper reported seven dead.

An AFP photographer saw an intense crush of crowds as a sea of people crammed the streets.

Broadcasters showed police carrying young children in their arms rushing away from crowds, who had seemingly fainted.

One unattended young man was sitting in an ambulance struggling to breathe.

Karnataka state's Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said he was not able to immediately confirm deaths.

"This is not a controllable crowd," he said, speaking to reporters. "The police were finding it very difficult."

"I apologise to the people of Karnataka and Bengaluru," he said. "We wanted to take a procession, but the crowd was very uncontrollable... the crowd was so much."

Cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League cricket final on Tuesday night.

An AFP reporter said the Bengaluru team had reached the cricket stadium in the city, where celebrations had previously been planned.


Is this the UAE’s most climate-conscious sporting event?

Updated 04 June 2025
Follow

Is this the UAE’s most climate-conscious sporting event?

  • DP World ILT20 franchise Desert Vipers reduced carbon footprint of cricket match to a very rare low

DUBAI: The Desert Vipers have released a sustainability match report outlining the environmental impact of their headline sustainability fixture, saying it is possibly the lowest-emission professional sporting event ever held in the UAE.

Timed to mark World Environment Day, the report details how the Vipers, a founding team in the DP World International League T20, or ILT20, say they reduced the carbon footprint of a professional cricket match to just 30.86 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, translating per fan to a low 8.6 kg of CO2 equivalent, a rarity in global sport.

“While mega-events like the Paris 2024 Olympics (emitted 1.59 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent) and Euro 2024 (generated 490,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent) understandably carry large footprints due to international travel and scale, the Vipers’ match sets a benchmark in per capita emissions. At 8.6 kg CO2 equivalent per attendee, this may be among the most climate-conscious fan experiences in professional sport,” said Ben Hardy-Jones, head of sustainability and lead author of the report.

Hosted during season 3 of ILT20, the Vipers match featured: 100 percent recycled team and fan kits, made locally; hospitality menus free from red meat, with reduced dairy; biofuel-powered pitch machinery; fan travel emissions limited to under 11 percent of total footprint; water-awareness labelling in hospitality menus; a digital reach of 15.4 million and more than 265,000 engagements, amplifying the sustainability message, with virtually zero additional carbon impact.

“As one of ILT20’s founding franchises, we wanted to show how elite sport can lead on climate action without compromising experience,” said Phil Oliver, Desert Vipers CEO and recent Middle East CEO of the Year at the SPIA Awards. “This wasn’t just about lowering emissions, it was about setting a practical example others can follow.”

Though the match was a finalist at the Gulf Sustainability Awards 2024 in the “most sustainable event” category, the data and design of the match are now serving as a template for the wider sports sector, as the Vipers call on teams, leagues and venues to join them in transforming environmental standards.

“This isn’t a one-off stunt. It’s a model we’re evolving every season,” Hardy-Jones said. “Our report is open-source because we want change across the board, from stadium design to catering decisions. Sport has that power.”

With ILT20 season 4 launching on Dec. 2, the Desert Vipers say that they are planning deeper sustainability initiatives and calling on the global cricket community to help make sport a force for environmental good.


Virat Kohli fulfils IPL dream as Bengaluru beat Punjab for first title

Updated 03 June 2025
Follow

Virat Kohli fulfils IPL dream as Bengaluru beat Punjab for first title

AHMEDABAD: Batting legend Virat Kohli top-scored for Royal Challengers Bengaluru as they beat Punjab Kings by six runs on Tuesday to win their first Indian Premier League T20 title.

Kohli’s 43 from 35 balls at the top of the order set up Bengaluru for an imposing total of 190-9 which was one big blow too many for a Punjab side that battled until the end, finishing on 184-7.

More than 91,000 fans packed into the 132,000-capacity stadium in Ahmedabad, a sea of Bengaluru’s red and Kohli’s jersey number 18 dominating the stands as chants of “Kohli, Kohli” rang out.

They celebrated noisily when Kohli and RCB clinched victory for the first time in the 18 years of the IPL, their three previous finals having all ended in defeat.

The 36-year-old Kohli, one of India’s all-time greats in all formats of the game, collapsed on the ground after the win and then got up to be hugged by his teammates as the crowd celebrated their hero.

Punjab faltered in their chase after left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya took 2-17 from his four overs.

Shashank Singh hit a valiant 61 not out and finished with three sixes and a four off Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood who defended 29 runs in the final over.

Hazlewood, who took 3-21 against Punjab in last week’s qualifier win after recovering from a shoulder injury, struck first to send back left-handed Priyansh Arya for 24 with Phil Salt taking a stunning catch at the ropes.

Impact substitute Prabhsimran Singh was the next to go off Pandya but the Bengaluru crowd went wild when Romario Shepherd had skipper Shreyas Iyer caught behind for one.

Pandya stuck again to cut short Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis’ stay on 39 and Bengaluru seized momentum and Shashank’s late blitz was not enough.

Bengaluru had the perfect start as ‘King Kohli’ dug in. Far from his fluent best, he only struck three fours during his innings but in the end it turned out to be key.

He lost opening partner Salt for 16 when New Zealand quick Kyle Jamieson struck in his first over to have the England batter caught in the deep off Iyer.

Kohli anchored the innings, sharing important partnerships with Mayank Agarwal, who made 24, and then skipper Rajat Patidar, who hit 26.

But Punjab kept chipping away with wickets as leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal got Agarwal and Jamieson trapped the captain lbw.

Kohli’s vigil ended when he mistimed a rising delivery from Afghanistan pace bowler Azmatullah Omarzai for a caught and bowled, the disappointment etched across his face mirrored by his fans.

Jamieson took his third wicket to cut short Liam Livingstone’s rampant 25 off 15 balls.

Wickets kept tumbling as wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma fell for a 10-ball 24 and Romario Shepherd for 17 off nine balls.

Left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh took three wickets including Shepherd in the 20th over and gave away just three runs.

Bengaluru had defeated Punjab in the first playoff to book their fourth final.

The 18th edition of the world’s richest cricket league ended nine days late due to a pause because of the military conflict between India and Pakistan.


Shreyas Iyer powers Punjab past Mumbai and into IPL final against Bengaluru

Updated 01 June 2025
Follow

Shreyas Iyer powers Punjab past Mumbai and into IPL final against Bengaluru

  • Iyer hit the winning six as Punjab reached their second IPL final
  • The league was extended by nine days after being paused due to a military conflict between India and Pakistan

AHMEDABAD: Shreyas Iyer led from the front with an unbeaten 87 as Punjab Kings beat Mumbai Indians by five wickets on Sunday to set up an IPL final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Chasing 204 for victory in a rain-delayed last playoff, Punjab rode Iyer’s 41-ball knock, laced with five fours and eight sixes, to achieve their target with six balls to spare in Ahmedabad.

Iyer hit the winning six as Punjab reached their second IPL final. It will be played at the same venue — the world’s biggest cricket stadium — on Tuesday.

The final will produce a new IPL winner with both Bengaluru, with star batter Virat Kohli, and Punjab in hunt for their first title in the T20 tournament.

Punjab lost opener Prabhsimran Singh for six but England’s Josh Inglis set up the chase with quick scoring as he and left-handed opener Priyansh Arya put together 42 runs in 18 balls.

Arya fell for 20 and Inglis for 38 after three fours and two sixes.

Iyer and left-handed Nehal Wadhera, who hit 48, turned the tide in overs 13 and 14 as the captain smashed England left-arm quick Reece Topley for three straight sixes.

Wadhera departed in the 16th over to raise Mumbai’s hopes, but Iyer stood firm as he finished with a masterclass.

The second qualifier began two hours and 15 minutes late due to persistent drizzle after the toss.

Punjab elected to field first before rain forced the players indoors for more than two hours. Officials did not cut any overs when play resumed.

Five-time champions Mumbai, who posted 203-6, lost veteran opener Rohit Sharma for eight off Marcus Stoinis in the third over but England’s Jonny Bairstow took on the opposition bowlers with regular boundaries.

Bairstow, who joined Mumbai ahead of the playoffs and played a key role in their win in the eliminator against Gujarat Titans, made 38 in a 51-run stand with the left-handed Varma.

Medium-pace bowler Vijaykumar Vyshak dismissed Baristow, who attempted to play a scoop shot but fell caught behind.

Tilak Varma kept up pace with Suryakumar Yadav as the pair put on 72 runs. Both made 44 each.

The two fell in the space of three deliveries, but number six Naman Dhir hit an 18-ball 37 to boost the total, which in the end proved insufficient.

The league was extended by nine days after being paused due to a military conflict between India and Pakistan and some overseas players including Mumbai imports Will Jacks (England) and Ryan Rickelton (South Africa) left before the playoffs.


Signs of hope for a cricket nation in transition

Updated 29 May 2025
Follow

Signs of hope for a cricket nation in transition

  • In 2019 Zimbabwe Cricket was suspended from ICC tournaments because of government interference. Only recently has optimism for the future of cricket in the African country returned

On May 23, a one-off, four-day Test match began at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, between England and Zimbabwe. It was the first match in any format between the countries since 2007 and only the seventh Test match played between them. The last meeting was in 2003 when England hosted two Tests, winning both by an innings.

Overall, England has won four of the seven Tests, with three drawn. Two of these were in December 1996, the first time England toured Zimbabwe, which was granted full membership of the International Cricket Council in 1992.

Zimbabwe’s playing performances over the last three decades have fluctuated drastically. In the first 30 Test matches, only one was won, at home to Pakistan in early 1995. This prompted discussion that the granting of Test status had been premature. However, a talented group of players emerged to provide the basis for a Test team that became one of the hardest to beat in the late 1990s. It won a one-off Test against India in October 1998, following up on this by beating Pakistan 1-0 in a three-match Test series in November and December 1998. The one-day international team qualified for the 1999 World Cup, narrowly missing out to New Zealand on a semi-final place because of an inferior net run-rate.

These golden years were ended by political turmoil. The 2003 World Cup was jointly hosted by Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa. Concerns over security of players caused England to forfeit a match scheduld to be played in Harare. A desperate shortage of food, a deteriorating economic situation and violent clashes between rival factions led two Zimbabwean players, Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, to stage a protest. In a long statement they said that they could not “ignore the fact that millions of our compatriots are starving, unemployed and oppressed … that thousands of Zimbabweans are routinely denied their right to freedom of expression.” They wore black armbands, “mourning the death of democracy.”

Unsurprisingly, the government was embarrassed, both players were dismissed from the team and felt compelled to leave Zimbabwe. Team harmony, already affected by government involvement in selection, was further disrupted, with a succession of players deciding to end their international careers prematurely. In 2004, the team captain, Heath Streak, was sacked by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, prompting 14 other players to walk out.

Despite attempts at rapprochement, results failed to improve in an environment of mistrust. Another bout of player resignations led the cricket board to voluntarily suspend the team from Test cricket in late 2005. After a six-year exile, Test cricket returned to Zimbabwe in August 2011 when Bangladesh was beaten in a one-off match in Harare. In subsequent years, off-the-field issues continued to dominate, whilest performances on the field were patchy and disappointing. 

In July 2019, the ICC voluntarily suspended Zimbabwe Cricket from ICC tournaments because it had failed to ensure that it was free from government interference. This meant that ICC funding was frozen and that neither men’s nor women’s teams could compete in T20 World Cup preliminaries and qualifiers, despite a lifting of the suspension three months later.

It is only recently that greater optimism for the future of cricket in Zimbabwe has emerged. Control over finances seems to have been established, ICC funding of $13.5 million being used to support a five -team domestic structure, national sides and the expensive business of hosting Test matches. Since 1992, the men’s Test team has played 124 Test matches, winning only 14, drawing 30 and losing 80. It would be easy for ZC to downplay Test cricket at a time when its relevance is being questioned.

The stance of ZC’s chair, Tavengwa Mukhulani, is diametrically opposite. He wants to see all Full Member teams play each other on a home and away basis, believing that the way for Zimbabwean cricketers to improve is by playing the stronger teams. Consequently, Mukuhlani is not in favor of a two-tier Test system. It is also an issue for him that Zimbabwe is not part of the World Test Championship, for reasons which are not clear to him. Zimbabwe’s commitment to Test cricket is clear. In 2025, it will play 11 Tests, joint highest with Australia.

The issues for Zimbabwe at Test level were illustrated at Trent Bridge. England was invited to bat first and raced to score almost 500 runs on Day 1, against bowling that betrayed a lack of knowledge of how to perform on an English pitch. In reply to England’s 565 for six, declared, Zimbabwe’s batters attacked, none more so than Brian Bennett, 21. He wrote himself into the history books by scoring the fastest Test century for Zimbabwe. Although England ultimately won by an innings and 45 runs, it was clear that Zimbabwe has talent to nurture. 

Some of this nurturing will fall to experienced team members. One of them, Sikandar Rasa, has played for Zimbabwe since 2013. Prior to the Test at Nottingham, he was playing in the Pakistan Super League for Lahore Qalandars. Once the Test, in which he bowled 25 overs and batted for 20 overs, had finished a day early, he flew back to Lahore via Birmingham, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, arriving minutes before play started. Lahore was set 202 to win. When Rasa went out to bat, 57 runs were needed from 3.2 overs. He immediately hit a four and six and, in the final over, repeated the feat to secure victory with one delivery remaining.

Zimbabwean cricket has suffered tough times over the past 20 years. Superhuman feats such as Rasa’s and the individual performances witnessed at Nottingham, where the team enjoyed colourful and musical support, provide hope for a brighter future. In Zimbabwe's first World Cup match at Trent Bridge in June 1983, when Australia was dramatically beaten by 13 runs, a bright future was suggested. Then, the team consisted almost entirely of white players, Ali Shah being the exception. Fifteen years later, nine of the team were white. At Trent Bridge last week, seven of the team were black, including the 6 foot, eight inches tall fast bowler, Blessing Muzarabani, who had claimed 26 Test wickets in 2025 prior to Nottingham.

Robert Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe between 1980 and 2017, is attributed with saying that “Cricket civilises people and creates good gentlemen. I want everyone to play cricket in Zimbabwe. I want ours to be a nation of gentlemen.” Noticeably, there was no mention of women.

Zimbabwe’s women’s team made its international debut in 2006 at the ICC Africa Regional Qualifier for the Women’s Cricket World Cup. The team has yet to reach the final stages of a World Cup although it did win a gold medal at the Africa Games in 2023. Currently, the team consists entirely of black players.

In the past two decades, a transformation has taken place that has turned the men’s national cricket team into one that more closely represents Zimbabwe’s demographics, in which white Zimbawean’s make up less than 1 percent of the 17 million population. The women’s team is totally reflective of that fact. Zimbabwean cricket needs an era of stability and support to allow its new generation of cricketers to mature.