Bridgetown played witness to an MI special as Suryakumar Yadav (53) and Jasprit Bumrah (3/7) anchored India to a 47-run success in their first Super 8 challenge on Thursday (June 20). 

After winning the toss, India made a strategic decision to bat first, aiming to set a challenging target for Afghanistan. They rallied to score 181/8, with the Men in Blue withstanding the bowling onslaughts of Rashid Khan (3/26) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (3/33) to post an eventual match-defining score thanks to SKY and Hardik Pandya (32)’s committed knocks.

When it came to the bowling, the duo of BOOM BOOM and Arshdeep Singh (3/36) were at the forefront of the bowling attack, showcasing their prowess and powering India to a convincing win.

Here is how India’s first Super 8 game ensued.

A pebbly start in the opening 10 overs

The pitch at Bridgetown posed a formidable challenge for the batters, making it difficult to score runs from the outset. However, despite the early setbacks, India's top order displayed resilience and determination. They scored 79/3 within the first 10 overs, a testament to their fighting spirit.

Suryakumar “Special” Yadav

However, the dynamics of the innings quickly changed once Aapla Dada Surya took charge of the batting. After a slow start, SKY picked up the pace and punched his way on the upward scale to notch his second successive half-century in the T20 World Cup 2024. His 28-ball 53 - which saw him cross 200 boundary fours in T20Is - catapulted the Men in Blue to a 150-plus score.

182 to defend

Besides SKY’s engineered effort, Hardik Pandya (32 runs off 24 balls) and a late blitz from Axar Patel (12 runs in six balls) got India to finish with a score of 181/8.

BOOM! Jasprit strikes early

In typical Jasprit Bumrah fashion, Afghanistan’s innings began with them losing their openers in the powerplay to our mercurial pacer. Like lightning bolts, his deliveries took an edge and went into the safe hands of our Hawkeye fielders Rishabh Pant (Rahmanullah Gurbaz, overs 1.2) and Ravindra Jadeja (Hazratullah Zazai, overs 4.1). This early breakthrough set the tone for India's dominant bowling performance.

Spin wizards do the trick in the middle

The duo of Kuldeep Yadav (2/32) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/20) built upon Axar Patel (1/15)’s opening act in the powerplay to do the demolition job in the middle overs. Kuldeep and Jadeja got rid of Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi as they attempted to resurrect the AFG chase.

Arshdeep puts the finishing touches

On the back of his spectacular display in the game vs USA, Arshdeep Singh (3/36) saved the best for the last as he grabbed the scalps of the tailenders to wrap up a fine 47-run triumph over Afghanistan and make it 8-0 in the T20I head-to-head record.

The next assignment sees the Men in Blue travel to Antigua for an all-Asian battle against neighbours Bangladesh. This match holds significant importance as it could determine the teams' final standing in the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup 2024.

Brief scores: India 181/8 (Suryakumar Yadav 53, Hardik Pandya 32; Rashid Khan 3/26) BEAT Afghanistan 134 (Azmatullah Omarzai 26, Najibullah Zadran 19; Jasprit Bumrah 3/7) BY 47 RUNS.