Player of the Match
Player of the Match

END OF OVER:
20 | 18 Runs | AFG: 111/8 (102 runs required, RR: 5.55)

  • Ibrahim Zadran64 (59b)
  • Fareed Ahmad1 (5b)
  • Dinesh Karthik1-0-18-0
  • Axar Patel4-0-24-0

Alright then as India and Afghanistan sign off from this tournament so must we for tonight. But the action is not over by any stretch, with Sri Lanka and Pakistan now having essentially a dress rehearsal for the final tomorrow evening, before the main event on Sunday. Be sure to join us for all that, but until then, on behalf of Sidarth Monga and Chandan Duorah, it's goodbye!

Virat Kohli is Player of the Match: "Firstly I am grateful for how the day went today. Time away from the game gave me a good chance to sit back and observe a lot of things about me. I mentioned one special person - Anushka - who stood by me through these tough times and I mentioned her as she has seen the absolute raw side of me throughout all these months. She was the one putting things in perspective for me, kept giving me the right kind of guidance, right kind of vision moving forward and I came back into the system a very relaxed person. I wasn't desperate to prove anything to anyone - in a very real sense, not in a way that 'I've done everything' - it's just about enjoying the game, understanding what God has blessed you with already and then just being humble and going out there and doing the grind all over again. Today I think was just a build up of the last few games - I actually batted out of my skin to be honest, I surprised myself. [Long gap between hundreds?] What actually surprised me was my 60s became failures, which was very shocking for me. I was batting pretty well and contributing, but it didn't seem to be good enough. But as I said, God has blessed me with a lot of good times in the past, and that's why I'm in this position where these things can be spoken about. I have absolute no shame in admitting that God is blessing us all with everything in our destiny, we just have to work hard. So I went back to the drawing board, came back fresh, came back excited. The team management have also had great communication with me through these times, they've kept my perspective right. When I came back there was not much information coming my way, they just said 'you bat and enjoy yourself'. So it was just a matter of getting back into the space of enjoyment. [opinion on Asia Cup?] have had many suggestions, lot of advice has come my way. People were telling me I was doing this wrong, that wrong, I picked out all the videos from the best times I had. It was the same initial movement, same approach towards the ball and it was just what was going on inside my head I wasn't able to explain it to anyone. At the end of the day you know as an individual where you stand, and what you have to do for your journey, and people will have their opinions. But they cannot feel what you're feeling. I have felt these last few months in a very different way, which is a very special time in my life. I'm very grateful for that time, my perspective had to change for me to move forward in cricket."

Winning Captain KL Rahul: "Coming back after a big injury and surgery, I've learnt that it's not as easy as you think. Finding the same touch or rhythm wasn't coming as easily as I thought it would. Happy I could find some time in the middle. Once I hit a few in the middle of the bat I started feeling good. [any special shots?] Not really. I think the Hong Kong game I hit one out of the ground, it felt good. And then hitting a few shots in the Pakistan game gave some confidence. [review of India's Asia Cup?] The result has been disappointing. We came into the tournament wanting to play the final and the groove of winning big tournaments. There are positives to take out, and we've really been challenged. Time to sit back and reflect where we need to improve, but it's happened at a really good time - obviously don't want to lose - but we can take away a lot of lessons."

Catch of the Match goes to Virat Kohli, which he took in the slips to dismiss Karim Janat

Losing Captain Mohammed Nabi: "It's really tough to play against Pakistan, a tight game, and then another tough game against India. Mentally we weren't prepared, we tried our best, but we couldn't get there. [Jaded today?] Today we tried our best, but the way KL Rahul and Virat started was tough, and we dropped some catches as well. [Tournament?] We started on a high morale. Last few games we also played really well, even though we didn't finish really well as a team."

Presentation ceremony almost underway..

Julious: "Its like gully cricket - as Rahul let DK bowl the last over since he did not get the chance to bat.. which kind of is funny because this is the first time in this series where India chasing did not had to think too hard on who to bowl the last over:) "

JOYDEEPSINGHGIL: "Virat Kohli have completed his 100 t20i sixes in this match along with 71st centuries including all formats"

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: "I was just bowling in the right areas, and it was just my day. Surprisingly it did [swing]. The white ball doesn't usually swing for 3-4 overs. Today wherever I was bowling I was getting the wickets. If you look at the other matches, there was not much swing and bounce. It's been a good tournament, if you look at the matches it's good for us to be playing strong teams like this heading into the World Cup."

9.10pm So handshakes all around, as India finish up a comprehensive win. Bittersweet, I imagine, for India, while Afghanistan will be looking forward to some much-needed rest. This win was built on Virat Kohli's record-breaking 122, and then Bhuvneshwar Kumar came out and blew away the Afghani batters with five-wicket opening spell - the fourth time a side has had a centurion and a five-wicket haul in the same T20I.

19.6
0
Karthik to Ibrahim Zadran, no run, good length on off, driven hard to extra cover. And that's that! India secure their second-biggest T20I win, as they win by 101 runs.
19.5
2
Karthik to Ibrahim Zadran, 2 runs, tossed up on off, driven high over cover
19.4
2
Karthik to Ibrahim Zadran, 2 runs, tossed up again, again the batter goes back and big. This time it's not to the boundary but in between long on and deep midwicket
19.3
6
Karthik to Ibrahim Zadran, SIX, Leans back and pulls this straight down the ground over long on!
19.2
6
Karthik to Ibrahim Zadran, SIX, tossed up and hoicked over deep midwicket! That's the fifty for Ibrahim and the 100 up for Afghanistan!
19.1
2
Karthik to Ibrahim Zadran, 2 runs, short of a length on the stumps, pulled towards deep midwicket

Samyak: "Finally Arshadeep has a decent score to defend in 20th over" Nope, it's Karthik with the ball.

END OF OVER:
19 | 5 Runs | AFG: 93/8 (120 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 4.89, RRR: 120.00)

  • Fareed Ahmad1 (5b)
  • Ibrahim Zadran46 (53b)
  • Axar Patel4-0-24-0
  • Ravichandran Ashwin4-0-27-1
18.6
0
Patel to Fareed Ahmad, no run, fuller on the stumps, big heave towards deep midwicket, doesn't time it as he would like though
18.5
0
Patel to Fareed Ahmad, no run, short of a length on the stumps, clipped to midwicket
18.4
1
Patel to Ibrahim Zadran, 1 run, full outside off, gets on one knee and drives this towards sweeper cover
18.3
1
Patel to Fareed Ahmad, 1 run, length on the stumps, flicked towards square leg
18.2
1
Patel to Ibrahim Zadran, 1 run, length on off, cut this time towards deep cover
18.1
2
Patel to Ibrahim Zadran, 2 runs, short of a length on the stumps, back foot punch past extra cover

Axar into his final over

END OF OVER:
18 | 8 Runs 1 Wkt | AFG: 88/8 (125 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 4.88, RRR: 62.50)

  • Fareed Ahmad0 (2b)
  • Ibrahim Zadran42 (50b)
  • Ravichandran Ashwin4-0-27-1
  • Deepak Chahar4-0-28-0
17.6
0
Ashwin to Fareed Ahmad, no run, good length on the pads, deflects up off the pad - looks like - and Pant dives forward to take the catch. Half-hearted appeal but there's no bat there.
17.6
1w
Ashwin to Fareed Ahmad, 1 wide, good length, but slides too far down leg
17.5
0
Ashwin to Fareed Ahmad, no run, around the wicket, defended on the stumps

slip and leg slip in place

17.4
W
Ashwin to Mujeeb Ur Rahman, OUT, Carrom ball castles him! Comes down the track and yorks himself, ends up missing the on drive and gets his middle peg disturbed

Mujeeb Ur Rahman b Ashwin 18 (18m 13b 2x4 1x6) SR: 138.46

17.3
4
Ashwin to Mujeeb Ur Rahman, FOUR, What a shot! Telegraphs this, and Ashwin slides it down leg, but Mujeeb goes for the reverse hit anyway and connects, into space over extra cover!
17.3
1w
Ashwin to Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 1 wide, quicker ball, 98kph, slides down leg
17.2
1
Ashwin to Ibrahim Zadran, 1 run, full on the stumps, driven down to long off
17.1
0
Ashwin to Ibrahim Zadran, no run, good length on off, stays in the crease and punches this to wide mid-off
17.1
1w
Ashwin to Ibrahim Zadran, 1 wide, slides down leg, wide given

AJ: "Chahar is looking completely innocuous. He is bowling at barely 120 and has not looked at his best. Is it fitness , lack of match practice or both." He's just returning from injury to be fair.

END OF OVER:
17 | 7 Runs | AFG: 80/7 (133 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 4.70, RRR: 44.33)

  • Ibrahim Zadran41 (48b)
  • Mujeeb Ur Rahman14 (11b)
  • Deepak Chahar4-0-28-0
  • Ravichandran Ashwin3-0-19-0
16.6
1
Chahar to Ibrahim Zadran, 1 run, good length on off, driven between point and cover for one
16.5
1
Chahar to Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 1 run, short outside off, pulls this straight, down towards long-on

Afghanistan 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st0Hazratullah ZazaiRahmanullah Gurbaz
2nd1Ibrahim ZadranRahmanullah Gurbaz
3rd8Karim JanatIbrahim Zadran
4th0Najibullah ZadranIbrahim Zadran
5th11Mohammad NabiIbrahim Zadran
6th1Azmatullah OmarzaiIbrahim Zadran
7th33Rashid KhanIbrahim Zadran
8th33Ibrahim ZadranMujeeb Ur Rahman
9th24Fareed AhmadIbrahim Zadran

Men's T20 Asia Cup

Super Four
TeamMWLPTNRR
SL33060.701
PAK3214-0.279
IND31221.607
AFG3030-2.006
Group A
TeamMWLPTNRR
IND22041.096
PAK21123.811
HKG2020-4.875
Group B
TeamMWLPTNRR
AFG22042.467
SL2112-2.233
BAN2020-0.576