[PreludeSH]

Kohli's 95 is what won us the game. Getting a 100 is a great milestone especially when you get to tie Sachin's all tme 49. But his effort to get it did seem a little odd and that is what made him get out finally.
He did the same in last match and even KL seemed more disappointed even when he scored the winning runs against Australia. Something common with our team.

[antz.bin]

The reason why Kohli has done such things 2 matches in a row is precisely because he doesn't play for his own milestones. Had he played for his century in the Bangladesh game, he wouldn't have let the required runs get anywhere close to the runs needed to get to his century well in advance. But still, there we were, 20 runs needed to win with Kohli at 80.

You could see in the Bangladesh game, he was embarrassed at what he was doing. NZ game as well, he was probably more crossed with himself for not finishing the game rather than not getting the century. If you noticed, there was hardly a celebration when he had reached his 50. These stats matter much more to his teammates the general public than it did to Kohli who probably knows it is just a matter of time.

I have pulled Kohli's leg on this thread more times than I can count but what he did yesterday won us the game. He could have gotten out at any point prior to that moment but the first time he took that selfish risk was after he had ensured that the rest will probably take it home even if he doesn't. It was a display of discipline and risk free hitting for the entire while he was there. He hit a grand total of 3 shots in the air across his entire innings. 2 of them went for 6. The 3rd one unfortunately didn't.

Around 9:30 PM, there were 3.2 Cr concurrent viewers on Hotstar. This was when Jaddu and Kohli were building their partnership. There was no urgency from Kohli's side that indicated that he was trying to get to his hundred. Both of them were totally engrossed is getting to the target. All runs were being gobbled up.

Around 10PM, these numbers surged to 4.3 Cr concurrent viewers on Hotstar. This was higher than even the Pakistan game. Everyone had come to see India win AND Kohli break Tendulkar's record. Or else how else would you explain more viewers on a India V NZ game compared to India v Pakistan game? Not everyday do we get to witness history being made but it was not to be last night. Kohli got out at 10:08 PM. We won at around 10:11 PM.

We all know he is a class act and crossing Tendulkar's ODI century tally is more a matter of when and not if.

He refused a grand total of 4 singles across 2 games for 2 World Cup centuries when the game was almost in the bag.

This team is not the team from 1999 that lost 4 wickets in 7 balls against Henry Olonga and co. to lose to Zimbabwe. We are better than that. Kohli made sure we had a set Jadeja at the other end if such a situation were to transpire.

[Indraneel Bhat]

In the match against NZ, Kohli was the one who guided the other batsmen to the target. SKY understood what Kohli was doing and sacrificed his wicket as well.
Kohli first put India in a winning position (5 off 12 balls with Jadeja on the other end) before he attempted his century. So I hold no grudge against him for this.
It is easy to comment and be a keyboard warrior.

[khanmaj]

It's ridiculous to call Kohli selfish or playing for personal milestones. He is one of the most team centric players that I have ever seen since I know cricket. Look at his excitement when any Indian player does well on the field. He doesn't have to prove anything to anyone - period.

[Shumi_21]

I think the last 10 overs of the NZ innings and the first 10 overs of the Indian innings won us the match yesterday. The bowling unit led by Shami went for 6/54 in the last 10, restricting NZ to 273 and the initial blitz by Rohit led us to 74/0 in our first ten overs, giving enough time to Kohli and Gill to play themselves in on a tough pitch.

Gill threw it away with a poor shot, so did Iyer. It's almost as if Shreyas has forgotten he is allowed to duck bouncers once in a while! Kohli struggled to even rotate strike against the spinners, but held his nerve to play them out and attack the fast bowlers and win us the game. Hope Iyer can do the same against England in our next match.

Really feel for Surya though, poor guy was run out by Kohli on his World Cup debut. Although Virat kept his streak of winning the game when he runs someone out alive

[Revvatron]

Would be curious to see Rashid khan's performance metrics against top nations in international cricket. Rashid khan in IPL vs Rashid khan for AFG looks completely different. Most of the time he looks non-threatening and doesn't look close to the match winner he is in franchise t20's.

[searacer932]

That was a terrific knock by Kohli in a chase once again. He is truly the chase master! And I don't think Kohli of 2023 is even 85% of Kohli of 2016 but he still keeps performing. Outstanding fitness as well.

[Asish_VK]

Rohit Sharma as an opener and captain is doing everything right till now. His changed attitude in powerplays is allowing the batters to follow to take their time. Absolutely loving his six hitting ability. As a captain, his bowling changes, field setting and decision making is excellent so far.

What to say about Kohli? He's from another universe. What an ability to read the game and adapt accordingly. His form and assurance he brings is allowing Rohit to go hard from the start too.

Middle order too is looking sorted. Only need to bat first and see if we can set good target and defend any scores convincingly.

Bowling is red hot right now. Taking almost average 7-8 wickets per match is no joke. That too our fast bowlers are bowling with their heart out.

Looks like India is a definite favourite and I hope we win this cup.

[harry10]

Afghanistan about to drown Pakistan.
Always had a soft spot for them and Needless to say Rashid is one of my favorite players in World cricket.

99 to Win in 111 balls now. 9 wickets in hand. Just need to hold composure now.

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by harry10

Afghanistan about to drown Pakistan.
Always had a soft spot for them and Needless to say Rashid is one of my favorite players in World cricket.

99 to Win in 111 balls now. 9 wickets in hand. Just need to hold composure now.

Afghanistan has played like a mature team today. So did Pakistan but a win now seem imminent for Afghanistan.

[jkrishnakj]

Given a choice, the Afghans will want to take the Chepauk strip back home. What a mature game they played today. Almost clinical. Pakistan must still be hurting from the trashing they are getting and the Afghans rubbed it in today.

[harry10]

Afghanistan is what Bangladesh could have been if they would not rely on one person and play as a unit.

Read the pitch well, played 4 spinners. Went for a few in last 10 but still came back in batting full of confidence.

Didn't rush, didn't panic, didn't play rash shots, just ran hard singles and doubles, a boundary here and there. Great chase. Great win

On a lighter note -

I Blame BCCI for not playing DIL DIL PAKISTAN again - Mickey Arthur.

I Blame lack of Protein- Imam.

I Blame Everything and Everyone but Myself- Babar.

I Blame Nanobots of BCCI who changed the pitch after first innings- Hafeez.

[NPV]

Wow what a win for this wonderfully talented Afghanistan team, huge achievement beating Pakistan, hope this will give them the much needed impetus to move up and be a force to reckon when playing against the established cricketing nations.

[AltoLXI]

And with this, Pakistan's chances of making it to semifinal maybe over.

[VWAllstar]

It was not the win but the way Afghanistan won the match. The composure, confidence and sense was so good to see. Give them many more games against the regular teams and they can soon up their game more. For me, Rahmat Shah is the Man of the Match. Coming at number 3, he held the innings and especially the way he played in the end. If he had got out then probably the result would have been different. Now I am looking forward to they beating SL & Netherlands.

P.S: Somehow I am getting a feeling of 1992. This hurting Tiger should not go on a hunt spree now.