Bengaluru (TIP)- India overcame Afghanistan in a second Super Over in a heart-stopping T20 International to complete a 3-0 series sweep on a night of high drama on January 17. The home side had bagged the series with back-to-back wins in Mohali and Indore, rendering the result of the match academic.
But the final match of the three-match series provided the most drama as Afghanistan, replying to India’s mammoth 212/4, racked up 212/6 resulting in deadlock. In the first Super Over, Afghanistan managed 16/1, which India matched as the stalemate continued.
India scored 11/2 in the second Super Over before spinner Ravi Bishnoi sealed their victory in three deliveries, conceding just one run and taking two wickets. “My heart rate was high, but we had a lot of fun,” leg-spinner Bishnoi said. “The moment we saw two right-handers come out, I was given the ball. The idea was to bowl back of length to begin with from a little behind the crease.”
Earlier, India looked in trouble after they slumped to 22/4 inside five overs after electing to bat. Skipper Rohit Sharma smashed an unbeaten 121 off 69 balls as he and Rinku Singh, who hammered 69 not out, rescued India with an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 190 off just 95 balls. Karim Janat bled 36 runs in the final over of the Indian innings conceding five sixes in that seven-ball over that included a no-ball.
Nice to see we have some options ahead T20 World Cup: Dravid
India head coach Rahul Dravid was a pleased man after the 3-0 series win over Afghanistan as few fringe players performed well to give the team more options for the T20 World Cup in June. India played 11 T20s after the ODI World Cup last year and the thinktank was able to have a closer look at some contenders such as Jitesh Sharma and Shivam Dube after frontline players were given a rest. Dravid was quite chuffed at their efforts.
“We’ve had different people play after the last ODI World Cup for a variety of reasons. But I think it’s just nice to see that there are some options (ahead of World Cup) who have put their hand up, and certainly shown that they’ve got skills to address.