“Quality sides and players do the basics over and over again,” Afghanistan fielding coach George Mooney had said ahead of the third ODI here at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

On Saturday, Prasidh Krishna once again underlined that truth, using his relentless control over length to set up India’s clean sweep over Afghanistan in the three-match series.

Prasidh picked up a wicket with his very first ball and claimed the final wicket of the innings to finish with figures of 5/23, bowling Afghanistan out for 218. India then completed the chase in just 28.4 overs with nine wickets in hand.

It was a straightforward chase for the hosts, led by openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal, both of whom needed substantial knocks to end the series on a positive note.

Jaiswal set the tone with three boundaries in the opening over. Rohit followed with a couple of fours, one of them a top edge over the slip cordon.

The veteran opener survived another mishit when Fareed Malik lost the ball in the lights, but soon settled into rhythm alongside Jaiswal, who was the more aggressive of the two.

The left-hander was strong off the back foot and repeatedly found the gaps square of the wicket. He brought up his fifty off just 38 balls in the 12th over. Rohit followed soon after, drawing the 20,000-plus crowd to its feet with a series of classical strokes, including a pull for six to reach his half-century in 47 deliveries.

The pair moved steadily towards the target, aided by some sloppy fielding from Afghanistan. Rohit eventually fell trying to pull Mohammad Nabi over midwicket, caught in the deep for 79. 

Promoted to No. 3, Shreyas Iyer struck a few crisp boundaries, including a pull over square leg for six. At the other end, Jaiswal continued to dominate.

He danced down the track to loft Nabi over cover and, even before the ball cleared the ropes, had his helmet off and arms aloft towards the dressing room, celebrating his second ODI hundred. He followed it with a boundary and fittingly sealed the chase with a six over cow corner.

Earlier, Prasidh was spot on from the outset, having Rahmanullah Gurbaz caught at first slip by Rohit off a drive. A couple of overs later, Rahmat Shah fell similarly, edging from the back foot to the former India captain. Ibrahim Zadran followed soon after, before Darwish Rasooli mistimed a back-of-a-length delivery to Shreyas Iyer at mid-off.

Prasidh ended his first spell with astonishing figures of 5-2-6-4. At 36/4, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai launched the recovery, adding 105 runs over the next 19 overs. The pair rotated strike smartly and found boundaries by exploiting the gaps.

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Shahidi reached his half-century off 64 balls, while Omarzai got there in 55. But the stand was broken when Omarzai miscued Prince Yadav’s short ball straight to Prasidh at deep fine leg.

Nabi added another 57 with Shahidi before Gurnoor Brar castled him. Harsh Dubey then removed Rashid Khan. Shubman Gill’s sharp work in the infield resulted in back-to-back run-outs of Allah Ghazanfar and Fareed Malik as Afghanistan lost three wickets inside five deliveries.

With wickets tumbling around him, Shahidi farmed the strike and eventually brought up his maiden ODI hundred with a boundary. But he could not add more, as Prasidh returned to have him caught and complete his maiden five-wicket haul in the format, capping a dominant day for India.

Published on Jun 20, 2026