Azmatullah Omarzai stood up for Afghanistan when the rest of the batting failed. He helped the Afghans recover from 43/5 to 156/8 with some help from Mohammad Nabi and then Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the end. Omarzai showed what a tremendous player he is and utility as well. Afghanistan has got a fighting total on the board.
India have done decently with Arshdeep Singh bowling well for his 3/19 in 4 overs and the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Axar Patel, complementing him really well as well. India should chase it down but you never know in cricket.
India rocks Afghanistan in the powerplay.Â
Put into bat first, keeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz and captain Ibrahim Zadran came out to open the batting for Afghanistan while Jasprit Bumrah had the ball in hand for India. Bumrah started with a wayward delivery down the leg side, and it beat the keeper for a wide. Bumrah got his radar back and then dismissed Gurbaz for a golden duck as the edge carried to Abhishek Sharma at slip, who took a good low catch. Bumrah completed 350 T20 wickets.
Sediqullah Atal came out to bat next. Bumrah managed to bowl two wides in the opening over. Arshdeep Singh shared the new ball from the other end. Ibrahim drove on the up through mid-off for a boundary. Arshdeep conceded 4 leg byes to the batting side. Bumrah continued as Atal took him on and smashed it over deep midwicket for the maximum. Atal was oozing class as he drove the ball down the ground past long-on for a boundary.
Axar Patel came into the attack inside the power play. He bowled on the pads as Ibrahim got down on one knee and swept it towards deep fine leg for a boundary. Then, against the run of play, a mix-up happened between the two batters, which meant that Ibrahim had to walk back to the hut for 11 off 10 balls with 2 fours to his name. Gulbadin Naib came out to bat next.
Arshdeep changed ends and dismissed Atal for 13 off 13 balls with one four and one six to his name as the ball was steered down to short third man, where Bumrah took a sharp catch. Darwish Rasooli came out to bat next. Axar continued and bowled the final over of the power play. Patel struck for India as he removed Naib for 2 off 6 balls, as the batter looked to smash it down the ground and got an outside edge that went high in the air and towards the point region where Nitish ran back and took a good catch.
Azmatullah Omarzai came out to bat next as at the end of the powerplay overs Afghanistan were 41/4 in 6 overs with Omarzai unbeaten on 0 off 2 balls and Rasooli unbeaten on 1 off 3 balls. It will be safe to say that after the powerplay overs, India were the happier side as we went into the middle phase of the game.
Azmatullah Omarzai & Mohammad Nabi led Afghanistan’s fightback in the middle overs.Â
Varun Chakaravarthy came into the attack post the powerplay. He struck for India straightaway as he dismissed Rasooli for 2 off 6 balls by knocking the batter over. Mohammad Nabi came out to bat with the score at 43/5 in 7 overs. Axar Patel continued and bowled a tight over. Varun continued and bowled another tight over as the 50 came up for Afghanistan in 9 overs. Bumrah was brought back into the attack as Omarzai drove the ball past extra cover for a boundary. Afghanistan were 56/5 after 10 overs at the halfway stage of the game when the players paused for Drinks.
Varun continued after the break and bowled a tight over. Nitish Kumar Reddy came into the attack next. Nabi welcomed him with a boundary by making room and slapping it past extra covers for a boundary one bounce over the ropes. Omarzai was in the zone as he got the outside edge that flew between the keeper and short third man for a boundary. Overthrows allowed bonus runs as Reddy bowled wide again.
Varun continued to bowl his final over, and he overstepped. The free hit next ball yielded a couple of runs. Varun again overstepped, and the following free hit yielded a single. Varun finished his decent spell. Abhishek Sharma came into the attack next. Omarzai took the attack to the opposition and threw his hands at it as the ball rolled away to the deep backward point for a boundary.
Nitish Kumar Reddy changed ends as Omarzai flicked it away to deep backward square leg for a boundary. The 50-run stand came up between Nabi and Omarzai for the 6th wicket. Nabi took the attack to Reddy as he looked to work the ball on the leg side and closed the bat face too early, and he got a leading edge that went over point, and the ball went away to the fence for a boundary. Nabi then took on Nitish again as the batter cleared his front leg and thumped it down the ground over the bowler’s head for a maximum.
The 100 came up for Afghanistan with that hit, and at the end of 15 overs, Afghanistan were better-placed with 104/5, with Nabi unbeaten on 26 off 24 balls alongside Omarzai unbeaten on 33 off 31 balls.
Azmatullah Omarzai’s brilliant half-century takes Afghanistan to a fighting 156/8 in 20 overs.Â
Axar Patel came back into the attack and was welcomed back with a maximum from Omarzai who backed away and whacked it away over deep midwicket for the maximum. Omarzai got a reprieve as Ishan Kishan put him down at deep midwicket with Omarzai batting on 39* at that stage. Omarzai took on Patel to add insult to the wounds as he swivelled across the line to hit it high and clear square leg fence for the maximum. Axar ended his spell as well.
Arshdeep Singh returned to the attack as Nabi backed away and muscled it over deep midwicket for the maximum. Arshdeep bounced back and removed Nabi for 33 off 27 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name as Nabi looked to whip it away and missed it as the ball cannoned into the stumps. Rashid Khan came out to bat next.
Bumrah came back for his final over and he bowled a miserly 18th over to complete his spell. Arshdeep came to bowl his final over and bowled a wide before dismissing Rashid for 1 off 10 balls as he was holed out in the deep at long-off by Axar Patel. Noor Ahmad came out to bat next and was run out first ball for a golden duck. Mujeeb Ur Rahman came out to bat next while Omarzai got to his fifty in 39 balls. Arshdeep bowled a few wides before completing his spell.
Shivam Dube came into the attack to bowl for the first time and final of the innings. Omarzai took the attack to Dube as he smoked it over deep midwicket for the maximum. Omarzai then lofted the ball over extra cover for the maximum. The 150 came up for Afghanistan in 19.3 overs. Mujeeb came on strike and got an outside edge past deep third man for a boundary. Mujeeb hit the last ball of the innings over deep extra cover for a boundary to end the over and innings as 21 came off the last over.
Afghanistan finished with a competitive 156/6 in 20 overs with Omarzai unbeaten on 64 off 44 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name while Mujeeb finished with 9 off 3 balls with 2 fours to his name. 21 extras given by the fielding side.
From India’s bowling point of view, Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/19 in 4 overs. Jasprit Bumrah finished with 1/26 in 4 overs. Axar Patel finished with 1/27 in 4 overs. Varun Chakaravarthy finished with 1/16 in 4 overs. Nitish Kumar Reddy finished with 0/30 in 2 overs. Abhishek Sharma finished with 0/8 in 1 over. Shivam Dube’s only over went for 21 runs. The target for India now will be 157 runs to win off 20 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series.
Who’s Winning, Afghanistan or India?Â
Afghanistan have done well to recover from 43/5 to get to a fighting 156/8 in 20 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai was the reason behind this recovery. Having said that, this is a par score and India will fancy chasing this with the batting at disposal. Afghanistan needs early wickets to dent India. India needs a solid start. Let’s see how this chase unfolds from here.
Also Read:Â AFG VS IND: Afghanistan Aims For Maiden Win Against Favourites India.