Left-handed superstar Abhishek Sharma dazzled under the lights in New Delhi as his breathtaking 3rd T20I ton powered India after the Men in Blue lost the toss. Abhishek Sharma was at his scintillating best as he scored 50 in 16 balls and a ton in 30 balls as India scored 100 in the first 6 overs and 142/1 in 10 overs. Sanju Samson, his opening partner, supported him well for his half-century.
But Afghanistan came back well with the ball at the backend, and some brilliance from Rashid Khan in the field and from the bowlers made sure that India were restricted in the end to 221/7, which is still a huge score but could have been worse given the start by the Indians. Afghanistan has to bat out of their skins to win this contest and avoid a whitewash.
Abhishek Sharma Decimates Afghanistan in Power Play
Put into bat first, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma came out to open the batting for India while Fazalhaq Farooqi had the ball in hand for Afghanistan. Abhishek made his intentions clear as he got underneath the ball and pumped it over extra cover for a boundary. Azmatullah Omarzai shared the new ball from the other end. Abhishek took Omarzai on as he whacked the ball away over long leg for the maximum. Then he muscled the ball to flat-bat it over mid-on for a boundary. The southpaw then charged down the track and pumped it over covers for the maximum.
Farooqi continued as Abhishek greeted him with a lofted shot over the bowler’s head straight as an arrow for the maximum. Then he took on the short ball and helped it on its way over fine leg for the maximum. Abhishek was in no mood to slow down as he swatted the ball away in front of square for a boundary. Then he got the top edge over the keeper and away for another boundary.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman came into the attack next as Sanju now took him on and went down the ground over long-on for the maximum. Abhishek then took him on and threw his bat at it to get the ball over backward point for a boundary. Mohammad Nabi came into the attack next and was welcomed with a maximum by Sanju Samson, who flat-batted it down the ground for the maximum. Sanju was in the zone as he now launched the ball over long-on for the maximum to complete 9000 T20 runs.
Sanju was given a lifeline as captain Ibrahim Zadran dropped a difficult chance at mid-off. Abhishek was back on strike as he slammed the ball straight down the ground for the maximum to reach his fifty in just 16 balls. Abhishek then opened the bat face and got the gap between backward point and point for a boundary. The southpaw then lofted the ball straight down the ground for the maximum. 29 runs came off this over. Rashid Khan finally came into the attack to bowl the last over of the power play.
Abhishek took him on as well, as he crunched the ball past wide long-off for a boundary. Abhishek then opened up and went over extra cover for the maximum over long-off. The southpaw then walloped Rashid to end the power play as he went over long-off for the maximum to bring up the 100 for India and the partnership as well. At the end of the power play, India were 100/0 in 6 overs with Abhishek unbeaten on 76 off 22 balls alongside Sanju Samson unbeaten on 24 off 14 balls. We now entered the middle phase of the game.
Abhishek Sharma falls after a smashing ton while Afghanistan makes a mini comeback with a few wickets in the middle overs
Abdullah Ahmadzai came into the attack post the power play. Sanju welcomed him with a cut over backward point for a boundary. Abhishek then pulled the ball in front of square leg for a boundary. Mujeeb continued as Abhishek went back and muscled it over long-on for the maximum. Abhishek went bang straight down the ground over the bowler’s head and into the sightscreen for the maximum. Ahmadzai continued as Abhishek swivelled and hammered it over deep square leg for the maximum.
Then the moment came for Abhishek as he reached his 3rd T20I ton off just 30 balls. Rashid continued as Abhishek took him on by picking it up and clubbing it over deep midwicket for the maximum. Rashid finally gave the breakthrough for Afghanistan as he dismissed the centurion Abhishek for 108 off 34 balls with 9 fours and 11 sixes to his name as the batter got an edge to the keeper. Abhishek wasted a review as well. Tilak Varma came out to bat next as India were 142/1 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the game.
Mujeeb continued as Sanju carved it away by going inside out over wide long-off for the maximum. The 150 came up for India in 10.3 overs. Rashid continued and did brilliantly well to effect the run-out to dismiss Tilak for 2 off 5 balls. Captain Shreyas Iyer came out to bat next. He got off the mark soon as Rashid bowled a tight over. Mujeeb continued as Sanju backed away and lofted it over the bowler’s head for a boundary past long-on. Samson reached his fifty off 34 balls.
Azmatullah Omarzai came back into the attack next and dismissed the set batter Sanju Samson for 50 off 35 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes to his name as Rashid plucked out a blinder at long-off. Shivam Dube came out to bat next and got off the mark as Afghanistan were pulling things back a bit. Rashid changed ends as Dube cleared his front leg and heaved it away over deep midwicket for the maximum. Dube then slammed the ball down the ground through long-on for a boundary. Shreyas got into the act as he made room on the leg side and slammed it over extra cover for the maximum.
17 runs came off the over as India reached 184/3 in 15 overs with Shreyas Iyer unbeaten on 11 off 8 balls and Shivam Dube unbeaten on 13 off 8 balls. We now enter the last phase of the game.
Afghanistan hit back with a flurry of wickets to keep India down to 221/7 in 20 overs
Azmatullah Omarzai came to bowl the 16th over as the Afghans burnt a review against captain Shreyas Iyer for LBW. Omarzai then got the breakthrough as he dismissed Dube for 14 off 10 balls with one four and one six to his name as Rashid pulled off a blinder at long-on. Ishan Kishan came out to bat next and dabbed it past backward point for a boundary to get off the mark. Abdullah Ahmadzai continued and bowled a few wides as Iyer got a triple through the midwicket region.
The 200 came up for India in 17 overs. Farooqi came back into the attack as another wicket fell via a run-out, as Ishan fell for 10 off 8 balls with one four to his name. Gurbaz was the run-out victim. Nitish Kumar Reddy came out to bat next and got off the mark as well. Ahmadzai continued as he dismissed Nitish Kumar Reddy for 1 off 4 balls, with Mujeeb taking the catch at deep midwicket.
Axar Patel came out to bat next and got off the mark next. Shreyas then broke the shackles as he stayed deep and lofted it over extra covers for the maximum. Farooqi came to bowl the last over of the innings. Shreyas was next run out for 29 off 20 balls with 2 sixes to his name by Ibrahim Zadran. Ravi Bishnoi came out to bat next and got off the mark with a brace. India finished with 221/7 in 20 overs. Axar was unbeaten on 5 off 4 balls while Ravi was at the other end on 0* off 0 balls. Just 2 extras were given by Afghanistan.
Afghanistan bowlers came back well with the ball in hand after the initial onslaught. Azmatullah Omarzai finished the night with 2/27 in 3 overs. Rashid Khan finished with 1/43 in 4 overs. Abdullah Ahmadzai finished with 1/38 in 4 overs. Fazalhaq Farooqi finished with 0/39 in 4 overs. Mujeeb Ur Rahman finished with 0/45 in 4 overs. Mohammad Nabi bowled an over for 29 runs. This meant Afghanistan were set a target of 222 runs to win off 20 overs to win their maiden T20I against India.
Who’s Winning, India or Afghanistan?Â
Despite a stellar fightback by Afghanistan in the backend overs, India remain on top with the runs on the board. 221 is a lot of runs. Afghanistan has to bat out of their skins to pull this off. The pitch is a belter, which will give them hope. Let’s see how the chase unfolds. At this stage, India will still be the happier side despite the loss of momentum.
Hopefully, a cracking run chase awaits us all.
Also Read: AFG vs IND: Sanju Samson’s Blazing Half-Century Flattens Afghanistan