India 564 for 8 dec (Gill 126, Rahul 100, Saleem 6-140) beat Afghanistan 152 (Rahmat 60, Suthar 6-33, Prasidh 3-37) and 112 (Atal 42, Sundar 4-36, Kuldeep 3-30) by an innings and 300 runs

India enforced the follow on. In their second effort, trailing by 412 runs, Afghanistan pushed Suthar back from his attacking lines by stepping down the pitch to him. Sediqullah Atal, who scored 42, led the charge by smashing him for a six and a four right before tea. In many ways, however, Suthar had already won the match for India by then.

Consistently bowling around the 90 kph mark, Suthar plucked out Sharafuddin Ashraf in Afghanistan’s first innings, spinning one past him. Then, he accounted for Rahmat Shah’s crucial wicket – the middle-order batter had brought up a stoic fifty off 100 balls, resisting India through the first hour and a half. Suthar bowled him around the legs, an expansive sweep was his undoing.

Rahmat was the eighth wicket to fall and it sealed Suthar’s five-for. A while later, he pinned Mohammad Saleem on the pads for his sixth. This last dismissal was the latest in a line of bad reviews (or lack thereof) from either side throughout the day. Suthar had pitched the delivery outside leg. For some reason, Saleem did not review and he was animated at the dugout as he walked back.

The tall Prasidh Krishna had begun the day from the other end, along with Suthar. Prasidh stuck to back-of-a-length deliveries, utilising the angles off the pitch to create jeopardy for the batters. He also struck the first blow for India, when he got the ball to jag back in, catch the inside edge onto the stumps, and send back Azmatullah Omarzai.

However, Ashraf visibly struggled to bat with a groin injury. Kuldeep began lobbing up balls that Ashraf needed to step out to deadbat. Suthar returned to take advantage of his limited reach, and had him edging behind.

Washington also picked up the final wicket of Afghanistan’s first innings, when he had Ziaur Rahman going for a huge swipe across the line. Pant ran in to complete a catch. This would be his sole wicket in the first innings, but Suthar’s prodigious spin – and six-for – ensured that Sundar, the wily offspinner, would get his own turn in the spotlight next.

After lunch, Atal continued walking down the pitch, once in a while, to negate Suthar’s more threatening options. But India’s other two spinners, Washington and Kuldeep – who just could not get it to spin as much on a flat track – showed their versatility instead.

Washington was the star spinner in the second innings, using his drift through the air instead of big turn off the pitch. He picked up 4 for 36, bowling with smarts against an Afghanistan line-up that tried to follow Atal’s lead by attacking the spinners. Kuldeep struggled to hit consistent lines, but kept lobbing the balls up and waited for the Afghanistan batters to hit him across the line.

After lunch, Atal receded into a shell. On the other hand, his partners chose rash shots to force the issue for Afghanistan. Siraj had already prised out Atal’s opening partner, Abdul Malik, after a patient 40-ball eight by getting a delivery to jag into his pads. Then, Rahmanullah Gurbaz swiped Kuldeep across the line in a rush of blood, mistiming the ball straight to long-on. The wicket came against the run of play, with him already on 24 off 23, bossing a tiring India spin attack in the blistering heat of New Chandigarh.

Next, Rahmat – Afghanistan’s best batter from their first innings – danced down the pitch to Washington and holed out at wide mid-off. Fifteen minutes before tea, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi edged a tentative prod to Shubman Gill at first slip and Washington got his second wicket of the innings. Both these wickets were a result of a consistent line, attacking batters in the outside-off channel.

Afghanistan’s resistance broke down completely on the last ball before tea. Atal, who had batted patiently thus far, leaned into an ill-judged lofted drive, off Washington, hitting it straight to point.

When they returned to bat after tea, Afghanistan’s lower-order batters were in no mood to stick around. Suthar plucked out one last wicket, pinning Afsar Zazai on the pads off a front-foot defense. On the other hand, Azmatullah Omarzai, Nangeyalia Kharote, and Mohammad Saleem all fell while miscuing lofted shots. Saleem’s edge to B Sai Sudharsan at covers sealed an innings-win for India.