Saving best for last

Bengaluru, January 17

India overcame Afghanistan in a second Super Over in a heart-stopping T20 International to complete a 3-0 series sweep on a night of high drama here today. The home side had bagged the series with back-to-back wins in Mohali and Indore, rendering the result of the match academic.

But the final match of the three-match series provided the most drama as Afghanistan, replying to India’s mammoth 212/4, racked up 212/6 resulting in deadlock. In the first Super Over, Afghanistan managed 16/1, which India matched as the stalemate continued.

India scored 11/2 in the second Super Over before spinner Ravi Bishnoi sealed their victory in three deliveries, conceding just one run and taking two wickets. “My heart rate was high, but we had a lot of fun,” leg-spinner Bishnoi said. “The moment we saw two right-handers come out, I was given the ball. The idea was to bowl back of length to begin with from a little behind the crease.”

Fantastic game. Went on and on and on. Incredible batting on display. Rohit and Rinku from our side, some of the hitting from their side also, T20 hitting at its absolute best. Great for Bishnoi to be able to land two deliveries perfectly to get us those two wickets. —Rahul Dravid, India coach

5 Rohit Sharma became the first player to score five hundreds in T20I cricket. Suryakumar Yadav and Australia’s Glenn Maxwell have scored four each

190 The partnership between Rohit and Rinku is India’s highest for the fifth wicket in T20Is, breaking the previous record of 113

Earlier, India looked in trouble after they slumped to 22/4 inside five overs after electing to bat. Skipper Rohit Sharma smashed an unbeaten 121 off 69 balls as he and Rinku Singh, who hammered 69 not out, rescued India with an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 190 off just 95 balls. Karim Janat bled 36 runs in the final over of the Indian innings conceding five sixes in that seven-ball over that included a no-ball.

Brief scores: India: 212/4 (Rohit 121*, Rinku 69*; Malik 3/20); Afghanistan: 212/6 (Naib 55*, Zadran 50, Gurbaz 50; Sundar 3/18). — Reuters

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