Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai smashed half-centuries to guide Afghanistan to a run total of 272-8 against hosts India in their Cricket World Cup clash on Wednesday.

At the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, where South Africa scored 428 runs to defeat Sri Lanka in the previous game, setting a World Cup record of 754 runs, Afghanistan chose to bat first.

Nearly all of the 40,000 seats were filled in the sea-blue stadium, with many spectators hoping that superstar cricketer and Delhi native Virat Kohli would make a significant contribution.

However, Jasprit Bumrah, the home team’s pace saviour, stood out for the team at the conclusion of Afghanistan’s innings with his best World Cup bowling figures of 4-39.

Before Shahidi (80) and Omarzai (62) combined for 121 runs to help Afghanistan rally, the score had dropped to 63-3.

Ibrahim Zadran was caught behind for 22 by Bumrah, who then pointed to his temple in jubilation.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who was on 21, and Rahmat Shah, who was on 16, both lost their wickets in the space of four balls, thanks to Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur.

Following a century stand between left-handed batsmen Shahidi and Omarzai, the innings was rebuilt, forcing captain Rohit Sharma to switch up his bowling.

After Omarzai reached his second ODI fifty, Shahidi promptly hit Pandya for four to reach his half-century and then added a six.

Omarzai, who scored 69 runs off 69 balls and hit two fours and four sixes, also tried to attack but was dismissed by Pandya.

Regular boundaries were used by Shahidi to continue the attack, but he was LBW by Kuldeep Yadav when he attempted to reverse sweep the left-arm wrist spinner.

On a pitch that is favourable for batting, Bumrah struck twice, including one off Rashid Khan, to further hurt Afghanistan.

Afghans were defeated by Bangladesh in their tournament opener, while tournament favourites India beat five-time champions Australia.

272-8 in 50 overs (H. Shahidi 80, A. Omarzai 62; J. Bumrah 4-39); brief scores.