(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) The Afghanistan cricket team pulled back their drowning inning with an excellent partnership between Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai. While Jasprit Bumran gave his everything to stop the run flow from the Afghanistan batting lineup.

Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and decided to bat first at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The side got to a good enough start but Jasprit Bumrah soon gave a key breakthrough by dismissing Ibrahim Zadran for 22 runs. They also lost two other wickets for cheap.

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But the onset of Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai brought runs and stability to the Afghanistan batting lineup. The Indians grew frustrated as they weren't able to crack the crucial partnership. Hardik Panya, the birthday boy proved to be the golden arm for his side.

He dismissed Azmatullah Omarzai for 62 runs from 69 balls thus breaking the 121-run partnership. Hashmatullah Shahidi departed after scoring a well-deserved 80 runs thanks to Kuldeep Yadav. Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rehman contributed some runs down the order and Afghanistan put up 272 runs in 50 overs.

272 runs on the Arun Jaitley Stadium cannot be termed as a good enough score for victory. But Afghanistan has given themselves a chance to portray problems for the Indian batting lineup. It will not be a comfortable chase for India and they will need to carefully work their way out.

Afghanistan has a crucial chance to open their points account in this ODI World Cup. But the Indian batting lineup has enough depth to musk out a victory against their South Asian neighbors.

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