On this day last year, India fast bowler Mohammed Shami took a hat-trick against Afghanistan and became the second Indian to do so in the 50-over World Cup after former fast bowler Chetan Sharma, who bagged the hat-trick against New Zealand during the 1987 edition. Shami’s exploits helped India register an 11-run win against Afghanistan at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. Chasing a modest target of 225 runs, Afghanistan got off to a poor start and then lost two quick wickets in middle-overs.
Asgar Afghan and Mohammad Nabi tried to build the innings but the former ended up losing his wicket to spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.
Nabi kept going from one-end and built brief partnerships with Najibullah Zadran (21) and Rashid Khan (14).
Shami bowled the final over of the innings and Nabi hit a boundary on the first delivery. On the third delivery, Nabi gave away an easy catch to Hardik Pandya at long-on, ending his 52-run knock.
Shami then continued his sublime form and took another two wickets to complete his hat-trick as he bowled both Aftab Alam and Mujeeb Ur Rahman on fourth and fifth ball respectively.
The 29-year-old returned with figures of 4/40 in his 9.5 overs.
Promoted
Earlier, Afghanistan displayed a spirited bowling performance to restrict India to 224 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted fifty overs after being asked to bowl first.
Virat Kohli played a valuable knock of 67 runs while Kedar Jadha scored 52 runs.
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