Jasprit Bumrah was on Saturday adjudged Man of the Match after he bowled 37 dot balls to help India successfully defend their low total and snatch an 11-run win over Afghanistan in a nerve-racking International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2019 clash at the Rose Bowl Cricket Ground in Hampshire on Saturday.
Chasing a paltry score of 224 for eight, Bumrah finished with the brilliant figures of two for 39 in his 10 overs as Afghanistan gave a strong fight to the Men in Blue before being eventually bundled out for 213 in 49.5 overs. Besides Bumrah, Mohammad Shami also finished with the superb figures of four for 40, including his last over hat-trick. Yujvendra Chahal and Hardik Pandya also chipped in with two wickets each.
While picking up his Player of the Match award, Bumrah revealed that his side's plan was to get the run-rate high and create chances at the right time, adding that it feels good to see the captain having so much confidence in him.
"Jasprit Bumrah is the player of the match, tells Pommie Mbangwa: "That gives you a lot of confidence when the captain has so much trust in you. Helps me keep a clearer head. (What he had to do today) We saw the wicket getting slower and slower. You had to be accurate and it's a big ground, so you had go for the yorkers and bowl wicket-to-wicket. What we wanted to do was that when you run behind wickets, you don't get wickets," ESPNcricinfo quoted Bumrah as saying.
"Our plan was to get the run-rate high and create chances. (On Shami) That's very good, because it gives us healthy competition within the side. We discuss what the plans are, and it's great when everybody is chipping in with wickets," he added.
Opting to bat first, skipper Virat Kohli (67) and Kedar Jadhav (52) notched up half-centuries under pressure as Afghanistan also produced a good show with the ball to restrict the Men in Blue to a paltry score of 224 in their stipulated 50 overs.
Overall, Bumrah has bagged a total of 90 wickets in 52 ODIs he played for India at an economy rate of 4.56.
