Yashasvi Jaiswal’s unbeaten 110 and pacer Prasidh Krishna’s 5 for 23 powered India to a dominant nine-wicket win over Afghanistan in the third ODI and sweep the series 3-0 in Chennai on Saturday.
Despite Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi scoring a brilliant 102, Krishna, who registered his first five-wicket haul in ODIs helped India bowl the visitors for 218 in 44.2 overs.
In reply, Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma put up 170-run stand for the first wicket as the hosts cruised home in 28.4 overs.
Jaiswal notched up his second ODI century with a six and struck another one over the fence to guide India to victory after Rohit fell on 79 off 69 balls.
The three-match series was the first bi-lateral ODI fixture between the two countries and preparation for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
“A lot of the boxes were ticked,” said India skipper Shubman Gill.
“We spoke about keeping the intensity in the middle overs and how as batters we can push for extra runs. Going to England the conditions will be a little closer to what we will get in South Africa,” he added.
India will play two T20 Internationals in Ireland later this month before travelling to England for a white-ball series.
India took control of the match early, thanks to Krishna, who claimed the first four wickets as Afghanistan slipped to 36 for 4. However, Afghanistan captain Shahidi fought back with his maiden ODI century.
After opting to bat first, Afghanistan got off to a poor start. Krishna dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz (5), Rahmat Shah (5) and Ibrahim Zadran (11), with Rohit taking all three catches.
Darwish Rasooli was then dismissed for just one run, leaving Afghanistan in deep trouble. Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai steadied the innings with a 105-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Omarzai scored 50, registering his ninth ODI half-century.
The partnership gave Afghanistan some hope, but Prince Yadav broke through by dismissing Omarzai. Shahidi then added another useful stand with Mohammad Nabi, who scored 21, before wickets began to tumble again.
Playing in hot and humid conditions in Chennai, Shahidi struggled with cramps during the latter part of his innings. Despite the discomfort, the left-hander reached his century with a boundary off Washington Sundar.
Soon after bringing up the milestone, Shahidi was dismissed by Krishna, who completed a five-wicket haul and helped bowl Afghanistan out.
“I think we have talented guys, but when it comes to India, playing in India, (which) is a tough side and we were not good,” said Shahidi. “We will learn from that. And moving forward, I think we are a quality side.”
Chasing the target, Jaiswal and Rohit got India off to a flying start, regularly finding the boundary and putting pressure on the Afghanistan bowlers.
Rohit was eventually dismissed when he mistimed a pull shot and was caught at deep mid-wicket off Nabi. However, Jaiswal continued to score freely.
He then shared a 54-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer, who remained unbeaten on 20, as India comfortably reached the target.
The victory completed a clean sweep for India across formats against Afghanistan, following their dominant win in the one-off Test match.
