World Cup 2019 | 'Harkar jitne vale ko Bazigaar kehte hai' : Afghans win hearts as India continue their unbeaten run in a nail-biting contest

India continued their unbeaten run in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 by a 11-run win over Afghanistan in an edge of the seat thriller. By the virtue of this win, India have now moved up to the third spot in the points table with four wins and nine points in five matches. While Afghanistan, on the other hand, continue to languish at the bottom of the points table with six losses in as many games.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli had won a good toss and elected to bat first. However, their batting did not click in this match unlike the previous games as they lost Rohit Sharma very early. Skipper Virat Kohli then added 57 runs with KL Rahul for the second wicket. After Rahul's dismissal, Kohli then stitched in a 58-run stand with Vijay Shankar. The Indian skipper anchored his team's innings and registered his 52nd half-century. He scored a 63-ball 67 which included five boundaries at a strike rate of 106.35.

MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav were then involved in a small partnership. In the end, riding on Jadhav's patient half-century, India got to a respectable total of 224/8 in their 50 overs.

In reply, the Afghans got off to a decent start but were losing wickets just when it looked like they would get the momentum. All-rounder Mohammad Nabi restored Afghanistan's hopes with a gritty half-century but his wicket in the final over off Shami ended the Afghan hopes. Shami then completed the formality by picking up the wickets of tail-enders Aftab Alam and Mujeeb Ur Rahman off consecutive deliveries as Afghanistan were bowled out for 213 with a ball to spare. 

Mohammed Shami became the second Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in World Cups after Chetan Sharma. Sharma had achieved this feat against New Zealand in the 1987 edition.

Here's how Twitterati reacted after watching this nail-biting thriller.