The Indian team took on Afghanistan in the first T20I of the ongoing three-game series. The two sides met at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi for the clash on September 13, and the game saw India come in to bowl first and limit Afghanistan to a score of 156 runs in the first innings.
Coming out to chase down the target, it was the performance of star opener Abhishek Sharma that stood out for the Indian team. It is interesting to note that in the early stages of the run chase, Abhishek Sharma completed 6000 runs in T20 runs.
It is also worth noting that the star batter became the second-fastest player in the history of the sport to reach 6000 runs in T20 cricket. According to balls faced, Abhishek Sharma took a total of 3420 deliveries to achieve the milestone.
He only sits behind Finn Allen in the list, who took a total of 3386 deliveries to score 6000 T20 runs. Putting on a show against Afghanistan, Abhishek surpassed the likes of Will Jacks, Andre Russell, and many more stars.
Fastest to 6000 T20 runs (by balls)
3386 Finn Allen
3420 Abhishek Sharma *
3550 Andre Russell
3681 Tim David
3857 Will Jacks/ Phil Salt
Arshdeep Singh’s masterclass helped India limit Afghanistan in first innings
Speaking of the game, it is worth noting that Afghanistan came in to bat first and opened the innings with Rahmanullah Gurbaz departing for a duck and Ibrahim Zadran scoring 11. Sediqullah Atal added 13 runs to his name. Furthermore, Gulbadin Naib and Darwish Rasooli departed on two runs each as Afghanistan’s top-order crumbled.
Azmatullah Omarzai put forth a brilliant performance with the bat, scoring 64* runs in 44 deliveries, with Mohammad Nabi adding 33 runs to his name.
The Indian team put forth a good show with the ball; star pacer Arshdeep Singh was the highest wicket-taker for India in the first innings, as he took three wickets to his name. Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, and Varun Chakravarthy took one wicket each, and India limited Afghanistan to a score of 156.
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