The big easy: Rohit floors Afghanistan in style at ODI World Cup

If Pakistan can track down 345 with 10 balls to spare to complete the highest successful chase in World Cups, India can knock off a target of 273 with 90 balls in hand. Different opponents and different venues, but that’s the message India seemed to send out ahead of their clash against Pakistan in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Their crushing eight-wicket victory against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday means they have two wins from two matches.

The win was crafted by Rohit Sharma’s sublime 84-ball 131, dismantling a couple of formidable World Cup records in the process. The India skipper now has the fastest hundred by an Indian in World Cups (63 balls) as well as the most hundreds (7) in World Cups. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah (4/39) also had a good outing for India.

Right from the start of the chase, Sharma exuded an air of invincibility. Perhaps eager to get into the groove before the high-voltage Pakistan clash – he was out for a duck against Australia -- there was no part of the ground that Sharma didn’t access during his assault on the Afghan bowlers. When the ball was full outside off, Sharma stepped out and drove aerially. When it was short, Sharma rocked back and pulled imperiously. Pace and spin were met with equal disdain, his demeanour suggesting that he was in no mood to relent on a hapless attack in batting-friendly conditions.

He took an early liking to left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi, hitting 14 runs off his third over. It included a dance down the track for a six over long off, a flick towards square leg for four and a text-book drive through covers for another boundary. Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi didn’t take him off the attack and suffered more agony. The left-armer's next over went for 17, all of them coming off Sharma’s bat.

Kishan was more subdued, content in watching Sharma’s batting exhibition from the other end. At the 10-over mark, Sharma raced to 76 off 43 balls with India on 94/0. As India continued to bombard the boundary in the powerplay, it was hard to fathom why Shahidi didn’t turn to Rashid Khan sooner. The ace spinner was introduced in the 15th over and didn’t take long to provide his side some respite. In his third over, he had Kishan caught at cover courtesy a leading edge.

By that time though, Sharma had already cantered to a 63-ball century. If he so desired, Sharma could have easily toned down his aggression and tried staying through till the end. But he didn’t, eyeing the big hits instead at every given opportunity. It may not be of immediate consequence, but Sharma’s approach means India have a healthy net run rate after two matches.

Eventually it was Rashid who added to his tally by bowling Sharma in the 26th over. Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer finished proceedings with an unbroken 68-run stand for the third wicket.

While the Afghan bowlers have to go back to the drawing board, there were positives in their batting effort. After being bundled for 156 against Bangladesh in Dharamsala, half-centuries by Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai steered Afghanistan to a fairly competitive total on Wednesday. They came together at 63/3 in the 14th over after the early damage was done by Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur.

Bumrah claimed the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran first up. Mohammed Siraj, meanwhile, struggled a bit with his fuller length. His intention was appreciable -- to entice the Afghanistan batters into playing drives with that tempting length, but the result was his first four overs costing 28 runs.

Sharma decided to switch to his third and fourth seamers – Thakur and Pandya -- after eight overs, and he was rewarded with a brace of wickets in quick succession. Pandya’s well-directed short ball to Rahmanullah Gurbaz took the batter’s top edge and went to Thakur at fine leg. Prone to the odd lapse in the field, Thakur overbalanced a bit at the boundary but managed to flick the ball in the air and eventually hold on. Three balls later, Thakur was celebrating a wicket off his own bowling. The length brought Rahmat Shah forward and the ball nipped back just enough to beat the bat for a leg-before dismissal.

The impression of an early finish was put on hold by Shahidi and Omarzai though. When spin was introduced in the 17th over, the stage seemed set for Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja to run through the Afghan batting line-up. But this is the Ferozeshah Kotla, and the pitch did not have the bite that India’s spinners enjoyed in the first game in Chennai. The decision to replace off-spinner R Ashwin with Thakur was an early giveaway of the conditions on offer.

Initially, the Afghan duo treated Kuldeep and Jadeja with deference, not wanting a repeat of the shoddy display versus Bangladesh where six wickets fell to spin. The first eight overs of spin brought only 24 runs, Shahidi and Omarzai willing to nudge and nurdle for ones and twos.

In the 25th over, once Afghanistan felt they had got a measure of the spin on offer, Omarzai flipped on a switch. He first lofted a flighted delivery by Kuldeep over long-on for six. A dot ball later, there was more conviction when the 23-year-old punished an overpitched ball over mid-off for another six. It brought up the fifty-run alliance off 69 deliveries, and finally a hint of urgency appeared in their batting. Omarzai’s next six was off Jadeja, a slog-sweep over long on sailing into the one of the hospitality stands.

In what seemed like a mini victory for Afghanistan, Sharma took both spinners off the attack and went back to pace in the middle phase. While Omarzai was the early aggressor in the partnership, Shahidi seemed to relish the pace on the ball. He was particularly precise in putting away deliveries that had a hint of width.

As it turned out, of course, Afghanistan were well short of a total that would challenge India.