Krishna and Jaiswal lead India to victory over Afghanistan to complete ODI series sweep

CHENNAI, India (AP) — Prasidh Krishna picked his maiden five-wicket haul and Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 110 not out as India beat Afghanistan by nine wickets to complete a three-game ODI series sweep Saturday.

Krishna picked 5-23 in 8.2 overs as Afghanistan was bowled out for 218 (44.2 overs) after it won the toss and opted to bat. Skipper Hashmatullah Shahid scored 102 off 131 balls.

In reply, India was never in any trouble as Jaiswal struck his second ODI hundred, while also putting up 170 runs for the opening wicket with Rohit Sharma.

Sharma scored 79 off 69 balls. Jaiswal was unbeaten in the end as India wrapped up the game with 224-1 in 28.4 overs — leaving 21.2 overs to spare.

India had already clinched the series with a 170-run win in the second match at Lucknow and a seven-wicket victory in the rain-shortened first match at Dharamshala.

It was the first-ever bilateral ODI series between the two sides.

Earlier, Krishna struck quick blows with the new ball — Afghanistan lost four wickets in 9.2 overs.

Sharma aided Krishna with his initial burst and took three catches at slip — Rahmanullah Gurbaz was out for 5, while Ibrahim Zadran (11) and Rahmat Shah (5) also fell cheaply.

Darwish Rasooli was also caught off Krishna, trying to hit out, as Afghanistan was down to 36-4.

Shahidi then saved the day for Afghanistan, anchoring his side with a maiden ODI century off 128 balls. He held one end together, hitting 13 fours and a six, and put up 105 runs for the fifth wicket with Azmatullah Omarzai.

Omarzai scored 50 off 56 balls, but Afghanistan never recovered after the initial blows. Mohammad Nabi added 21 runs, but no other batters contributed in double digits.

Then, Jaiswal-Sharma sped off with the chase as India scored 81-0 in the first 10 overs.

Jaiswal scored 50 off 38 balls with seven fours and a six, then hit another six and six fours to score his next 50 off the next 45 balls.

It was a second century for Jaiswal in three ODI innings — he is not a regular opener for India just yet and only played his fifth ODI on Saturday.

“I really enjoyed batting out there,” he said. “I got runs in the powerplay so I just wanted to keep going. Selection is not in my control, but I try to work hard as much as I can. I have support from the team management and the communication has been good. I am only trying to convert whatever chances I get.”

Sharma scored his 61st half-century off 47 balls, but fell close to the century mark, out caught off Nabi in the 23rd over.

Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer (20 not out) added a quickfire 54 off 35 balls to race across the finish line.

Afghanistan is yet to win a game against India across all formats.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket