• Source:JND
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India won the third T20I against Afghanistan after a double Super Over thriller at M Chinnaswamy in Bengaluru on Wednesday but the result would have been different if Virat Kohli had not saved a six on the boundary rope with his acrobatic effort.

Chasing 213, Afghanistan were 165/4 in the 17th over of the innings with Gulbadin Naib and Karim Janat on the crease. On Washington Sundar's fifth ball of the over, Janat smashed the ball towards deep mid-wicket but alerted Kohli averted the ball inside the rope with his high-flying jump and saved five crucial runs for his side.

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The effort became the turning point of the match as Afghanistan could not post the winning total and match India's score of 212 in 20 overs.

Kohli's superb fielding effort earned instant applause from the Indian dugout while netizens drew similarity with pacer Jasprit Bumrah's bowling action.

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Before Super Overs kicked in, Rohit (121 not out, 69b, 11x4, 8x6) and his perfect sidekick Rinku Singh (69 n.o, 39b, 2x4, 6x6) shared 190 runs for a stellar unbeaten fifth-wicket stand as India came back from a flaky 22 for four to post a massive 212 for four after opting to bat first.

The Afghans started gamely through openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (50, 32b) and Ibrahim Zadran (50, 41 balls) as they added 93 runs in 11 overs, building a solid foundation for the chase.

Their departure saw spinners Washington Sundar (3/18) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/31) tightening things a bit but the experienced Gulbadin Naib (55 not out off 23 balls) played some twinkling shots to keep his side in the hunt.

Naib knocked off 18 runs of the required 19 off the final over bowled by pacer Mukesh Kumar, dragging the match into a Super Over.

The visitors made 16 for 1 in the first Super Over bowled by Mukesh and India equalled the score with Rohit making 13, and it stretched the game to the second Super Over.

In this phase, India made 11 and Rohit made all those runs before getting run out.

Afghanistan lost both Mohammad Nabi and Gurbaz to leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi as they failed to score any runs in the second Super Over, signalling the end of a winding match.

(With PTI inputs)