India vs Afghanistan: Mohammed Shami creates history, becomes 2nd Indian to take World Cup hat-trick
India fast bowler Mohammed Shami took a hat-trick in the final over to help India in scripting a thrilling 11-run win over Afghanistan. Doing so, the bowler became only the second Indian to take a World Cup hat-trick, only after Chetan Sharma.
Coming into the attack in the final over, the match was poised for a thrilling finale with Afghanistan needing 16 to win in 6 balls and three wickets in hand. Mohammad Nabi, who was batting on 48* at the moment, smashed a boundary on the first ball towards long-on, to reach his half century.
After a dot ball, Shami bowled a yorker to Nabi, which he hit straight down long-on for a comfortable catch in Hardik Pandya’s hands. In the next two deliveries, the seamer cleaned up Aftab Alam and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, with two yorker deliveries, completing his hat-trick.
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Shami became only the 10th bowler in history to take a World Cup history. He also became the first bowler this year to attain the milestone.
With Shami’s efforts, Afghanistan were bundled out for 213, thus losing the match by 11 runs. This was Afghanistan’s sixth straight defeat in the tournament, and India’s fourth win in five games.