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Team India white-washed Afghanistan 3-0 after winning the third T20I runs in Bengaluru. The victory in the final fixture was built on the back of a massive 190-run stand posted by Captain Rohit Sharma and youngster Rinku Singh. With the conclusion of this series, India have played their last T20I ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup in June.
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Coming back to the M. Chinnaswammy Stadium, the Men in Blue won the toss and elected to bat first but had a horrendous start. After an 11-run opening over, India lost big-hitting opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (6) and Virat Kohli (0) in quick succession. The wickets kept tumbling with in-form Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson also getting in a matter of moments.
With the team struggling at 22-4, Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh knuckled done and gradually brought India back into the match. The duo started with singles, doubles and an occasion boundary before increasing the scoring rate. Soon Sharm reached his fifth T20I century and became the only batter in international cricket to achieve this feat.
Then at the start of the 20th over, India's score was 176-4 before Rohit and Rinku launched a final assault to score 36 runs in the final over and take the score to 212. Sharma ended with 121 in 69 balls while Singh remained not out at 69 in 39 balls.
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After a poor bowling effort, Afghanistan had a positive start with the bat as the opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran posted a steady 93-run stand. But with regular wickets thanks to Washington Sundar, India got back into the contest.
As the game crossed the 10-over mark, the Afghani middle order comprising Mohammed Nabi and Gulbadin Naib smashed Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh Khan all over the part to take them into a thrilling finish. With 18 required off the last over, the match entered the super-over as Naib was not at 55 at the end of the 20th.
India vs Afghanistan 3rd T20I - Super Overs
With Afghanistan batting first, the visitors managed 16 runs with Mohammed Nabi and Rahmanullah Gurbaz hitting boundaries. But then centurion from the first innings, Rohit Sharma hit Azmatullah Omarzai for two maximums before taking a signal on the penultimate delivery. With Yashasvi Jaiswal on strike, the Mumbai batter failed to get a clean connection as the scores were once again tied.
Now with India batting first, Rohit Sharma smashed a six and a four before the Men in Blue lost two quick wickets and set a 12-run total. Then with the ball, Ravi Bishnoi starred as he picked two wickets in three balls to seal the win for India.
