India vs Afghanistan LIVE: Cricket World Cup 2023 result and reaction as Virat Kohli 50 leads hosts to victory

World Cup hosts India cantered to their second successive win of the tournament after captain Rohit Sharma’s incendiary century set up their eight-wicket thrashing of Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Rohit belted 131 off 84 balls, clobbering five sixes and 16 fours, as twice champions India chased down a 273-run victory target with 15 overs to spare at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Virat Kohli made 55 not out, sealing the easy win with a boundary as the tournament hosts maintained their red-hot form ahead of Saturday’s much-anticipated clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in Ahmedabad.

Electing to bat after winning the toss, Afghanistan were 63-3 in the 14th over before skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (80) and Azmatullah Omarzai (62) combined in a 121-run stand to frustrate India.

When Sybrand Engelbrecht took the field for Netherlands’ match against New Zealand in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, only a handful of ardent cricket fans would have recognised him.

Engelbrecht had last played a competitive match back in 2016 for Western Province, a domestic cricket team in South Africa, in a three-day cup, before retiring as a professional cricketer.

He decided to use his MBA degree to move to the Netherlands and start working as an investment specialist.

Afghanistan star Rashid Khan has said he will be donating his match fees from the ICC Cricket World Cup to help the victims of the catastrophic earthquake that struck his country over the weekend.

The powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook Herat in western Afghanistan, killing over 2,400 people, injuring over 2,000 and destroying at least 1,300 houses. It comes just 16 months after another major earthquake hit the country in June 2022 that led to 1,000 deaths.

Khan, who captains Afghanistan’s T20 side and is one of the most successful sporting figures from the country, has always been vocal about the welfare of his countrymen. He has now pledged to do his bit to help Afghanistan in its time of crisis.

Star batter Shubman Gill is set to rejoin Team India but remains doubtful for their upcoming clash with arch-rivals Pakistan on 14 October in the Cricket World Cup 2023.

Gill, who missed India’s opening match in the World Cup against Australia after reportedly catching a fever, is expected to reach Ahmedabad on 11 October, as per media reports.

Gill did not travel with the Indian team to Delhi for their second match after their six-wicket victory over Australia and was believed to be down with dengue but this was never confirmed by the team management. The 24-year-old opening batter was taken to a hospital in Chennai for treatment but was eventually discharged after his health improved.

Rohit Sharma smashed his way into the history books in front of a sold-out crowd in Delhi, becoming the player with the most sixes across all forms of international cricket.

India hosted Afghanistan in Delhi in the second match of the ICC Cricket World Cup and were set 273 to win, with Sharma opening at the top of the order.

Before the match, Rohit sat second in the list behind Chris Gayle, with 551 to the West Indian’s 553. But Delhi was witness to not one but multiple records from the Indian captain en route to his century.

“It is quite crucial that we don’t worry too much about the external factors. We need to show up on the ground really well. Ever game we will treat like that and focus on what we need to do on that particular day.”

“It was a good win for us. It is very important to get momentum at the start and have the winning streak continue. There will be times you are put under pressure but it is about absorbing that and making the right decisions as a team.

“There will be times as a bowling side when we’re put under pressure but I’m sure the games we played in the build-up to the World Cup will help. We need to leave that aside and move on from here.

“We want players to have different skillsets and bring different attributes to the team. It puts you in good positions as a team. With the bat we’ve got people can play fearless and their are guys who can absorb pressure.

“When you have all-round players in your squad most of the things are taken care of and just making sure you take the right decision in the game.”

“We had a target of 300+ in these conditions, especially as India’s batting line-up is strong. But back-to-back wickets cost us.

“Our thinking behind the decision to bat first was that the surface was good so we wanted to score runs and put pressure on the opposition.

“We have seven more games. We will try and learn from our mistakes and come back with a positive attitude.”

Player of the match Rohit Sharma: “It was a good pitch to bat on. I was just backing myself to play my natural game. I knew once I got my eye in the pitch would only get easier and easier to bat on. I’ve been thinking about it a long time. I was glad I could go a little big and it was a special feeling and it is always special to score a hundred in a World Cup.

“I don’t want to think about records too much. There is a long way to go and I don’t want to lose my focus. I want to focus on the what the team requires of me and when you get days like this you want to make it count and make it count big.

“Some of it is premeditated. You can’t just keep going and playing those kind of shots but at times I let my instinct take over. Sometimes it works really well. It is my duty as an opener to make the start that we want, particularly in a chase, and put the team in a comfortable position. I love doing that. I want to back myself to keep doing that. It is important to not lose that mindset and keep putting pressure on the opposition.”

Rohit Sharma was, understandably, awarded the player of the match for his impressive and rapid 131 runs that pretty much took all the pressure off the Indian run chase.

Virat Kohli played well in his final World Cup game at Delhi while Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers with 4-39.

It’s a second heavy defeat for Afghanistan who would have thought they were in with a chance at the halfway stage.