India beat Afghanistan by nine wickets in the third and final ODI of the three-match series at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, Chennai, on Saturday, June 20. Afghanistan batted first in this game and were bowled out for a below-par total of 218 inside 45 overs. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi stole the show with a well-crafted 102. However, none of the other batters in their side could stand up and deliver. All-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai was the only other batter who complemented his skipper's knock, with 50 runs that came off 56 deliveries.
Seamer Prasidh Krishna was the star for India with figures of 5-23 in 8.2 overs. Krishna has often flown under the radar for his skills with the white ball. Yet, he showed his class on Saturday by pitching the ball in the right lines and lengths. Gurnoor Brar, Prince Yadav and Harsh Dubey - all players who made their international debuts in this series - picked up a wicket apiece to help Krishna. In reply, India hardly had to break into a sweat as Mumbai opener Yashasvi Jaiswal batted like he was taking a walk in the park. The southpaw took just 86 deliveries to score 110, which consisted of 14 boundaries and three sixes.
While Jaiswal remained unbeaten on 110, his fellow opener Rohit Sharma - also from Mumbai - fell on 79, which he had taken 69 balls to score. Sharma, India's former captain across all formats, hit three sixes and nine boundaries. After Sharma's dismissal, Shreyas Iyer - who hails from Mumbai as well - walked out to the crease and remained not out on 20 to help India cross the line in 28.4 overs. With this victory, India whitewashed their visitors 3-0. Earlier, they had defeated Afghanistan by a whopping margin of an innings and 300 runs in the one-off Test, played in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.