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India beat Afghanistan by six wickets in yesterday’s T20I match at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. Bowling first after winning the toss, the hosts restricted Afghanistan to 158/5 as left-arm spinner Axar Patel starred with 2/23 from his four overs. For Afghanistan, former skipper Mohammad Nabi top-scored with 42 off 27 balls. In the chase, Shivam Dube starred with 60* off 40 as India cruised past the target in 17.3 overs.
Chasing 159, India got off to a disastrous start as skipper Rohit Sharma was run out without scoring on his T20I comeback. Rohit drove a full ball from Fazalhaq Farooqi to mid-off and set off for a single, but Shubman Gill was ball watching, leaving his captain stranded. Rohit gave the youngster a piece of his mind before walking off. Gill crunched a few boundaries before being stumped by a googly from Mujeeb Ur Rahman for 23 off 12 balls.
Tilak Varma and Dube lifted India with a third-wicket stand of 44. Tilak (26 off 22) looked good for a big score before perishing to a blinder of a catch from Gulbadin Naib at deep backward square. Dube and Jitesh Sharma (31 off 20) then put Team India on course for victory, adding 45 for the fourth wicket. The fine partnership ended when Jitesh was caught in the deep, trying to take on Mujeeb.
Dube, however, guided India home with an impressive half-century. After crossing his fifty, he took the Men in Blue past the finish line with a six and a four off Naveen-ul-Haq in the 18th over. Rinku Singh chipped in once again with 16* off 9.
Axar, Mukesh restrict Afghanistan to 158
The visitors got off to a good start with the bat as their openers added 50 runs at a decent pace. Axar ended the ominous stand with the last ball of the eighth over. After being struck for a six over deep square leg, he had Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 off 28) stumped as the batter charged down the pitch and missed the ball completely.
At the other end, Dube had Ibrahim Zadran (25 off 22) caught at short cover. Rahmat Shah (3 off 6) then chopped a flat delivery from Axar onto his stumps as Afghanistan stumbled to 57/3 at the halfway stage of their innings.
Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai (29 off 22) lifted the batting side with a fourth-wicket stand of 68. The duo went after leggie Ravi Bishnoi in the 15th over, which cost India 16 runs. Nabi slapped consecutive sixes off Mukesh Kumar in the next over.
The impressive stand ended when Mukesh (2/33) got Omarzai to drag a length ball outside off back onto the stumps. In the same over, Nabi sliced one to sweeper cover, where Rinku took a good catch diving forward. Some good hits from Najibullah Zadran (19* off 11) and Karim Janat (9* off 5) lifted Afghanistan to a competitive score.
Who was Player of the Match in yesterday’s India vs Afghanistan T20I?
Axar impressed with the ball, claiming two wickets while not giving too many runs. Dube had an impressive all-round match. He claimed one wicket and struck an unbeaten 60 off 40 balls, guiding the chase.
For Afghanistan, veteran all-rounder Nabi top-scored with 42. With the ball, off-spinner Mujeeb impressed with 2/21 from four overs.
Dube was named Player of the Match for his all-round show in the Mohali T20I.
