Suryakumar Yadav smashed a fine half-century before India's bowlers slammed the brakes on Afghanistan's flamboyant shot-makers to romp to a 47-run win in the T20 World Cup on Thursday.
Suryakumar's 53 was his 19th fifty in the format and helped India post a challenging 181-8 in their second round Super Eights opener.
Experienced fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah then combined with spin trio Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja to strangle Afghanistan, seen by many as dark horses for the title, who were dismissed for 134 off the last ball.
Afghanistan slipped quickly to 23-3, losing openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (11) and Hazratullah Zazai (two) to the wily Bumrah, while Patel sent back Ibrahim Zadran (eight).
Gulbadin Naib (17) and top-scorer Azmatullah Omarzai (26) put on 44 for the fourth wicket but once they fell to Kuldeep and Jadeja respectively, Afghanistan wilted in their chase.
Bumrah finished with a career best 3-7 from his four overs while fellow seamer Arshdeep Singh took 3-36.
Afghanistan, who won their opening three games in the group stage, have now lost back-to-back matches. In their last first round fixture, they suffered a humbling 104-run loss to the West Indies at St Lucia.
India and Afghanistan will face Australia and Bangladesh in their remaining Group 1 fixtures with the top two teams making the semi-finals.
India skipper Rohit Sharma said: "The last two years we've played T20s here, so we understand the conditions and planned accordingly. We adapted well and got 180, which was a great effort from the batters. We had class bowlers who defended it perfectly.
"Everyone came in and did their job, that's critical and we dwell on it. We know Bumrah's class and what he can do. Important for us to use him smartly regardless of conditions. He's willing to take responsibility and he's been doing it for years."
Suryakumar made 53 from 28 balls with five fours and three sixes and shared a 60-run fifth-wicket partnership with Hardik Pandya.
Skipper Rashid Khan and left-arm fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi both took three wickets for Afghanistan.
Farooqi struck first for Afghanistan by having Sharma caught by Rashid for just eight. It was the 23-year-old Farooqi's 50th career T20 international wicket.
Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant put on 43 for the second wicket with Pant hitting three successive boundaries off Mohammad Nabi.
His 11-ball cameo had yielded 20 runs when he was lbw to Rashid attempting an ill-judged reverse sweep. That left India on 54-2 before Rashid struck again in his next over, claiming the prestige scalp of Kohli who was caught by Nabi at long-off for 24 off 24 balls.
Kohli had at least made it to double figures after a miserable run of just five runs in his first three matches at the tournament.
At the halfway point India were 79-3. Rashid was hit for a boundary and a six in the 11th over by Suryakumar.
But the leg-spinner was soon celebrating his third wicket when he had Shivam Dube trapped lbw for 10. Rashid finished with impressive figures of 3-26.
Suryakumar and Pandya threatened to take the game away from Afghanistan. But Farooqi dismissed Suryakumar in the 17th over before Pandya, who made 32 from 24 balls with three fours and two sixes, fell to Naveen-ul-Haq off the last ball of the 18th over.
Farooqi also sent back Jadeja to finish with 3-33 and take his tournament total to 15 wickets.
THE SPECS
Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Power: 165hp
Torque: 241Nm
Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000
On sale: now
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Continental champions
Best Asian Player: Massaki Todokoro (Japan)
Best European Player: Adam Wardzinski (Poland)
Best North & Central American Player: DJ Jackson (United States)
Best African Player: Walter Dos Santos (Angola)
Best Oceanian Player: Lee Ting (Australia)
Best South American Player: Gabriel De Sousa (Brazil)
Best Asian Federation: Saudi Jiu-Jitsu Federation
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If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes. Portland is a 260 km drive from Seattle and Emirates offers codeshare flights to Portland with its partner Alaska Airlines.
The car
Hertz (www.hertz.ae) offers compact car rental from about $300 per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
Parks and accommodation
For information on Crater Lake National Park, visit www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm . Because of the altitude, large parts of the park are closed in winter due to snow. While the park’s summer season is May 22-October 31, typically, the full loop of the Rim Drive is only possible from late July until the end of October. Entry costs $25 per car for a day. For accommodation, see www.travelcraterlake.com. For information on Umpqua Hot Springs, see www.fs.usda.gov and https://soakoregon.com/umpqua-hot-springs/. For Bend, see https://www.visitbend.com/.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Grand slam winners since July 2003
Who has won major titles since Wimbledon 2003 when Roger Federer won his first grand slam
Roger Federer 19 (8 Wimbledon, 5 Australian Open, 5 US Open, 1 French Open)
Rafael Nadal 16 (10 French Open, 3 US Open, 2 Wimbledon, 1 Australian Open)
Novak Djokovic 12 (6 Australian Open, 3 Wimbledon, 2 US Open, 1 French Open)
Andy Murray 3 (2 Wimbledon, 1 US Open)
Stan Wawrinka 3 (1 Australian Open, 1 French Open, 1 US Open)
Andy Roddick 1 (1 US Open)
Gaston Gaudio 1 (1 French Open)
Marat Safin 1 (1 Australian Open)
Juan Martin del Potro 1 (1 US Open)
Marin Cilic 1 (1 US Open)
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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