Virat Kohli smashed his 71st international hundred followed by an impressive bowling performance helped India thrash Afghanistan by 101 runs in their final Super Four clash of the Asia Cup 2022 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, September 8.

Ahead of the dead-rubber of the Super Four stage, India decided to rest captain Rohit Sharma as designated vice-captain KL Rahul took up the responsibility to lead the Men in Blue.

Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi won the toss and opted to bowl in Dubai.

In the absence of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli was moved up the order to open the innings alongside KL Rahul.

Rahul and Kohli got India off to a scintillating start as they reached 50 in just 5.5 overs. With both the batters set at the crease, the swashbuckling duo showed their aggressive approach as they hammered the Afghanistan bowlers all round the ground.

India’s two flamboyant openers forged a magnificent 119-run stand for the opening wicket before Rahul perished for a well-made 62 off 41 balls. Left-arm fast bowler Fareed Ahmad gave Afghanistan the much-needed breakthrough in the 13th over.

Batting at number three, Suryakumar Yadav started his innings with a stylish six before Fareed Ahmad removed the in-form Indian batter in the very next ball.

Following Suryakumar’s dismissal, Rishabh Pant joined Kohli at the crease. The duo played some brilliant shots in the middle overs to stitch a 50-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Meanwhile, Kohli smashed Fareed Ahmad for a maximum to bring up his 71st international century and his maiden ton in T20Is.

With his first ton in 84 innings, Kohli ended his drought of not scoring a hundred in international cricket for 1020 days. The former India captain also equalled Ricky Ponting’s tally (71) for most hundreds in international cricket. Kohli is now only behind India cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, who recorded 100 international tons.

In the final over of India’s innings, Kohli hammered Ahmad for consecutive sixes followed by a boundary to power India to 212/2 in their allotted 20 overs.

Kohli remained unbeaten on 122 off just 61 balls he registered the highest individual T20I score for India. He surpassed the previous record held by Rohit, who smashed 118 against Sri Lanka in Indore in 2017.

Chasing a daunting target of 213, Afghanistan suffered huge blows as openers Hazratullah Zazai (0) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (0) perished to Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the first over of the run-chase.

Bhuvneshwar carried on his dream run as he removed Karim Janat (2) and Najibullah Zadran (2) in his second over to put massive pressure on the Afghanistan batting line-up. The Indian star pacer went on to register his second five-wicket haul in T20I cricket as he trapped Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi in front of the stumps.

While middle-order batter Ibrahim Zadran showed some resistance as he scored 64 runs off 58 balls, Afghanistan could only manage 111/8 in their 20 overs to suffer their third consecutive defeat in the Super Four stage.

Virat Kohli was adjudged the Player of the Match for his match-winning knock as India ended the Asia Cup 2022 campaign on a high.

India will next host Australia in a three-match T20 series starting on September 20 ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.