[Watch] Jasprit Bumrah strikes twice in devastating opening spell during IND vs AFG T20 World Cup Super 8 clash
It took Jasprit Bumrah just two deliveries to draw first blood for India with the ball in their T20 World Cup encounter against Afghanistan in Barbados on Thursday, June 20. Bumrah dismissed the dangerous Afghanistani opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 11 runs off just eight balls.
Having smashed a six and a four in the first over, Gurbaz looked in the mood to play his shots and get Afghanistan off to a flying start. However, it wasn't to be as Bumrah showed his class by bowling a well-disguised slower delivery right into the batter's slot.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz's eyes lit up, but he didn't seem to pick Bumrah's variation as he was early in his shot and Rishabh Pant completed a simple caught-behind dismissal. Gurbaz was distraught after his wicket, as he knew he was in the zone. Here's a video of the dismissal:
Jasprit Bumrah was back for his second over in the latter half of the powerplay and dismissed the other opener, Hazratullah Zazai. The left-hander tried to work a back-of-a-length slower delivery from the star pacer but could only manage a leading edge from the closed face of the bat.
Ravindra Jadeja gleefully accepted the catch at short covers. Here's a video of the dismissal:
Afghanistan also lost the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran in the powerplay as he chipped a delivery from Axar Patel straight to Rohit Sharma at short covers.
Jasprit Bumrah's early strikes leave Afghanistan a steep mountain to climb
Gurbaz had 167 runs in his first four innings at the T20 World Cup and it was clear that his wicket was the key for Afghanistan getting the platform for a tough chase of 182. But Jasprit Bumrah halted Afghanistan's progress with two wickets for just five runs in his first two overs.
India's spin trio of Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja have also picked up a wicket each as Afghanistan are 91/5 at the time of writing, needing to double their score in six overs to win the game on a sluggish pitch.