Staff correspondent :

Captain Rohit Sharma’s record century helped hosts India win the ODI World Cup for the second time in a row.
India beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets in their second match today. Rohit scored 131 runs off 84 balls and became the man of the match. On the way to play this innings, Rohit made the record of 7 centuries in the history of ODI World Cup.
Afghanistan scored 272 runs for 8 wickets in 50 overs with a pair of half-centuries by Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai. Shahidi scored 80 and Omarzai scored 62 runs. In response, Rohit’s devastating batting ensured victory with 90 balls to spare.
Afghanistan captain Shahidi won the toss and chose to bat first in New Delhi. Two openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a start of 32 runs off 40 balls. Bumrah gave India their first success by hunting Ibrahim who scored 22 runs in 4 fours.
Gurbaz and Rahmat Shah kept the wheels of Afghanistan running by adding 31 runs for 37 wickets in the second wicket. Gurbaz was the victim of Hardik Pandya by scoring 21 runs with 3 fours and 1 six. Rahmat was out for 16 runs in 3 fours.
Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai scored a century after 3 wickets fell for 63 runs. They tasted the half-century by crossing the team’s 150 runs in the 31st over after handling the Indian bowlers with ease. Omarzai scored his 17th ODI half-century off 62 balls and Shahidi on 58 balls.
Omarzai scored 62 runs off 69 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes before falling victim to Pandya in the 35th over. Shahidi and Omarzai added 121 runs off 128 balls for the fourth wicket. This is the second time the Afghans have scored a century on the stage of the World Cup. This is the team’s second highest run-scoring partnership for any wicket in the World Cup.
Spinner Kuldeep dismissed Shahidi leg before in the 43rd over, who was increasing the innings even after half-century. Shahidi scored 80 runs off 88 balls with 8 fours and 1 six.
After Shahidi’s return to the team’s 225 runs, the lower order batsmen brought Afghanistan a fighting collection. Mohammad Nabi’s 19, Rashid Khan’s 16 off 12 balls, Mujeeb ur Rahman’s unbeaten 10 off 12 balls and Naveen Ul Haq’s 8 balls unbeaten 9 runs made Afghanistan amass 272 runs for 8 wickets in 50 overs.
Bumrah is India’s successful bowler with 4 wickets for 39 runs in 10 overs. Pandya took 2 wickets for 43 runs.
Two openers Rohit and Ishan Kishan gave India a flying start of 156 runs from 112 balls in a target of 273 runs. Rohit scored a 30-ball half-century in the pair and 31st century in 63-ball ODIs. In this, Rohit became the owner of the maximum 7 centuries in the history of the World Cup. He also set the record for the fastest century for India in the World Cup.
Kishan, who scored 47 runs off 47 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes, left off spinner Rashid in the 19th over. Then Rohit crossed the team’s 200 runs with Virat Kohli. In the 26th over, the Indian skipper was bowled while sweeping Rashid’s ball. Before that, Rohit scored 131 runs off 84 balls with 16 fours and 5 sixes. In this innings, Rohit set the record for the highest number of sixes in international cricket across three formats. Rohit now owns 556 sixes in 453 matches. Chris Gayle of West Indies fell to second place with 553 sixes in 483 matches.
When Rohit returned, India needed 68 runs to win. Kohli secured India’s victory by scoring 68 runs off 56 balls with the third wicket of Shreyas Iyer. Kohli remained unbeaten on 55 runs off 6 fours. Iyer scored 25 runs unbeaten. Rashid of Afghanistan took 2 wickets.
India will play their third match against Pakistan on October 14 in Ahmedabad.
Summary Score:
Afghanistan : 272/8, 50 overs (Shahidi 80, Omarzai 62, Bumrah 4/39)
India : 273/2, 35 overs (Rohit 131, Kohli 55*, Rashid 2/57).
Result: India won by 8 wickets.

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