Fifties from skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai helped Afghanistan hit back after losing three early wickets against India in their World Cup clash on Wednesday.

Afghanistan elected to bat first at New Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium which witnessed a World Cup record 754 runs scored in the previous match when South Africa posted 428 and defeated Sri Lanka.

They lost their top three batsmen, Ibrahim Zadran (22), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (21) and then Rahmat Shah (16) to slip to 63-3.

Shahidi, a left-hand batsman, and Omarzai then rebuilt the innings in a century stand to thwart the Indian attack and pull the total to 173-3 in 33 overs.

Omarzai reached his second ODI fifty and soon Shahidi smashed Hardik Pandya for four to bring up his half-century.

The Afghans lost their opening match to Bangladesh while tournament favourites India began with a victory over five-time winners Australia.