India thrashed Afghanistan by nine wickets to win the first T20I of the three-match series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Star batter Abhishek Sharma stole the show with a 22-ball half-century, while Ishan Kishan played the perfect role of second fiddle as India got the job done with 32 balls remaining.
Batting first, Afghanistan failed to live up to expectations. Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran were expected to share the load of the batting unit, but they suffered from the very beginning. Jasprit Bumrah started the innings with five wides and only two balls later, got the better of Gurbaz, who was surprised by the bounce as Abhishek Sharma caught a simple one.
Soon after that, Afghanistan lost four wickets for only five runs. Indian bowlers ran riot in the middle and that put the hosts on the back foot. Finally, Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi managed to build an important partnership of 83 runs. That helped Afghanistan gain some momentum in the middle. The veteran Nabi made 33 runs of 27 balls, while Omarzai scored unbeaten 64 runs off 44 balls.
Based on their innings, Afghanistan posted 156 runs on the board in the first innings. For India, Arshdeep Singh dominated the proceedings, claiming three wickets. Bumrah, who returned to action after an injury break, picked one wicket for 26 runs in his four overs. Meanwhile, Shivam Dube, who was handed the final over of the game, once again proved costly, conceding 21 runs. His poor over helped Afghanistan post over 150, which looked impossible at one stage.
Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan dominate Afghan bowlers
Returning to the scheme of things, Sanju Samson had the perfect opportunity to prove his mettle tonight. However, the Kerala batter once again suffered. He departed for eight runs off 10 balls and unless he improves in the second T20I, it will be difficult for him to retain his place in the playing XI. Especially when Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is sitting out at the moment.
After Samson went back, Abhishek and Kishan took over the business and changed the complexion of the game. Abhishek, in particular, wreak havoc in the middle, smacking a 22-ball half-century. He ended up scoring 82 runs off only 32 balls. Kishan, on the other hand, scored 42. Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma finished things off as India won the game by seven wickets.
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