World Cup 2019: The three most nail-biting matches of the tournament

#2: India vs Afghanistan

Mohammad Shami is ecstatic after bowling the perfect delivery.

Afghanistan had just come off the back of a drubbing from Eoin Morgan and Co. to play India at Southampton. A similarly one-sided affair was expected in this match as well, especially after Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat.

However, the pitch was a difficult one and made batting frustrating. However, the Indians had themselves to blame as set batsmen like KL Rahul and Vijay Shankar threw away their wickets. Kohli, who seemed the only batsman at ease, got out after making 67. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kedav Jadhav set themselves up for a final flourish, which, ironically, never came after Dhoni perished trying to take on Rashid Khan. India had to settle for a very modest score of 224.

Chasing 225, the Afghan top-order made a decent start and it was only in the 29th over when Jasprit Bumrah picked up the key wickets of the two set batsmen Hashmatullah Shahidi and Rahmat Shah, that India clawed their way back into the match. However, an obstinate Mohammad Nabi refused to throw away his wicket and went into the very last over of the innings with just the tail remaining. With 16 needed off the last over and three wickets remaining, Nabi hit Shami's first ball for a four but holed out to long-on in the very next delivery. With only the last two wickets remaining, Mohammad Shami bowled two back-to-back inch-perfect deliveries to become only the second Indian bowler to take a hat-trick at the World Cup.