India completed a dominant nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the third ODI in Chennai on 20 June to seal a series whitewash, with Prasidh Krishna’s career-best five-wicket haul and an unbeaten century from Yashasvi Jaiswal proving the decisive contributions in a comprehensive win.
Prasidh was the architect of Afghanistan’s downfall with the ball, taking five wickets for just 23 runs to reduce the visitors to 36 for four inside the opening powerplay. It was the pacer’s first five-wicket haul in ODI cricket and earned him the player of the match award.
Afghanistan’s captain Hashmatullah Shahidi refused to capitulate, however, producing one of the finest innings of his ODI career. He shared a 105-run partnership with Azmatullah Omarzai, who contributed a brisk 50 off just a handful of deliveries, striking two sixes and five fours. Shahidi went on to reach his ODI century, eventually falling for 102 off 131 balls, an innings laced with 13 fours and a six. His efforts helped Afghanistan recover to a competitive 218 all out, though it would prove nowhere near enough.
India’s reply was clinical and utterly commanding. Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma put on 170 for the opening wicket, effectively ending the contest before the innings had properly begun. Rohit contributed a fluent 79 off 69 balls, striking nine fours and three sixes, before departing to leave Jaiswal to finish the job.
The left-hander was in imperious form throughout, reaching his half-century off 38 balls before completing his second ODI century off 83 deliveries. He finished unbeaten on 110 off 86 balls, striking 14 fours and three sixes, as India reached 224 for one with more than 21 overs to spare, securing victory by nine wickets.
The win completed a clean sweep of the three-match series. India had won the first match by seven wickets in a rain-affected encounter before routing Afghanistan by 170 runs in the second.
