Rohit stars as India crush Afghanistan in WC game

KABUL (Pajhwok): India trounced Afghanistan by eight wickets in their second game of the ICC Cricket World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat, posting a total of 272-8 in the stipulated 50 overs before record century from Rohit Sharma powered the hosts to a comfortable victory.

Hashmatullah Shahidi made 80 to put Afghanistan on course for a challenging target, but Jasprit Bumrah's 4-39 restricted them to 272-8.

For Afghanistan, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (80) and Azmatullah Omarzai played well to take the score forward.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya provided India with a big wicket as he ended the partnership between Shahidi and Omarzai. After some expensive overs, Indian bowlers come back in the game.

Rohit crunched a sparkling 131 from 84 balls before India reached their target of 273 with 15 overs to spare.

Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott said they were making progress and had got to grips with conditions in Delhi where they play England next, according to Reuters.

Trott said it was a brave decision to bat first but admitted they were well short on a "350-360 wicket".

"We thought it was the right decision to bat first, all the results pointed towards batting first as a bit of an advantage with the fact that the outfield is sort of sprayed and there's not much dew," he told reporters.

"We thought our spinners could come into the match towards the end on a wicket that we thought might keep a little bit low in spin. But credit to India and they played really well."

sa/mud