After a long wait of two and a-half years, i.e., 1020 days later, a brilliant century from Virat Kohli’s bat. Kohli’s century helped India bounce back with a thumping win over Afghanistan despite losing to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup Super Four. India won the match by 101 runs. Batting first, India scored 212 runs for the loss of just two wickets, thanks to Virat Kohli’s brilliance. Batting first, Afghanistan ended their innings at 111 for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs.
India scored 212 runs for the loss of two wickets in 20 overs, riding on Kohli’s century and skipper KL Rahul’s half-century in place of Rohit Sharma.
This is Kohli’s first international century in T20Is. This is the 71st time in international cricket. With the century against Afghanistan, Kohli has equaled former Australian captain Ricky Ponting’s tally of 71 international centuries. Kohli remained unbeaten on 122 off 61 balls with the help of six sixes and 12 fours. Kohli dedicated the century to his wife and actress Anushka Sharma and daughter Vamika.
After Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar took the Afghanistan batting line-up to their knees. Bhuvneshwar took five wickets. Bhuvneshwar took five wickets for just four runs in his four overs, including a maiden. By the time Bhuvi completed his four-over quota within the first seven overs, Afghanistan were 21 for the loss of six wickets.
Hazratullah Zazai (0), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (0), Karim Jant (2), Najibullah Zadran (0) and Azmatullah Omar Sai (1) were the other batsmen who bowed their heads in front of Bhuvneshwar. Ibrahim Zadran remained unbeaten on 64 off 59 balls. Skipper Mohammad Nabi (7), Rashid Khan (15), and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (18) were the other batsmen to be dismissed.