India break 22-year-old ODI record in just 6 balls against Afghanistan

Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal (BCCI Photo)

NEW DELHI: India made a stunning start to their chase against Afghanistan in the third ODI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, scoring a record 23 runs in the very first over.Chasing 219 for victory, India began their innings at 5/0 after Afghanistan were penalised five runs during their innings when captain Hashmatullah Shahidi repeatedly ran into the protected area of the pitch.The unusual start helped India enter the record books for the most runs scored in the opening over of an ODI innings by the Indian team.

Most runs by India in the first over of an ODI innings

The record-breaking over was bowled by Azmatullah Omarzai and turned into a nightmare for Afghanistan.After India started at 5/0, Yashasvi Jaiswal quickly got going. The left-hander picked up two runs before smashing a boundary through the off side. Omarzai then lost control of the over, bowling wides and overstepping twice to concede two no-balls.Jaiswal made full use of the free-hit opportunities. He struck a boundary over long-off and followed it up with another four straight past mid-off. A mistimed pull that was caught at mid-wicket did not count because it came off a no-ball.The over ended with Jaiswal cutting another short delivery for four, taking India’s tally to 23 runs after just six legal deliveries.Earlier, Afghanistan recovered from a disastrous start to post 218 all out.Prasidh Krishna was India’s star with the ball, producing a career-best spell of 5/23. The fast bowler ripped through the Afghan top order, reducing them to 36/4 inside the first 10 overs.Afghanistan captain Shahidi then led the fightback with a determined 102 off 131 balls, his maiden ODI century. He shared a 105-run partnership with Omarzai, who made 50, and later added 57 runs with Mohammad Nabi.Despite Shahidi’s efforts, Afghanistan lost their last five wickets for just 20 runs and were bowled out for 218.