IND vs AFG 1st T20I: Abhishek Sharma shines as India beat Afghanistan

An explosive knock by Abhishek Sharma and a threewicket haul by Arshdeep Singh were the highlights as India secured an easy sevenwicket win over Afghanistan in the first T20I of the threematch series at Arun Jaitley Stadium on SundayWith this win India is 10 up in the series India opted to field first with Afghanistan managing 1568 courtesy a fighting 64 from Azmatullah Omarzai Arshdeep Singh 319 was sensational with the ball During the chase Abhishek 82 in 32 balls with seven fours and seven sixes and Ishan Kishan 42 in 33 balls with five fours and a six killed the chase with an entertaining 121run stand for the second wicket The chase was done in 134 oversIn the chase Team India started well with Sanju Samson producing a flick through midwicket against Fazalhaq Farooqi on the second ball of the innings and later hitting Mujeeb ur Rahman for a four in the second over too But in the next over Sanju perished to inform Azmatullah Omarzai as the allrounder induced a false shot from the batter which was caught by Darwish Rasooli at deep square leg Sanju was gone for 10 in eight balls with India at 181 in 21 oversHowever Abhishek Sharma continued his onslaught nonetheless smacking Omarzai for a six and four in the same over He completed 6000 T20 runs becoming the secondfastest to the milestone in 3420 balls next to New Zealands Finn Allen who reached the mark in 3386 ballsIshan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma opened the floodgates in Farooqis fifth over looting 26 runs with two fours and sixes each with both being equal aggressors India marched to the 50run mark in 42 overs In the next over Mohammed Nabi was torched for three fours by the duo as they reached the 50run stand in just 17 ballsIn the ninth over Abhishek reached his 12th T20I fifty in 22 balls with six fours and three sixes and ended the over by smacking Rashid Khan for a four and a six India reached the 100run mark in 82 oversIshanAbhishek continued to brutalise Afghanistan spin with Ishan getting a four and Abhishek producing two backtoback sixes against Noor Ahmed in the 10th over reaching the 100run stand in 43 ballsHalfway through India was 1301 in 10 overs with Abhishek 74 and Ishan 34 unbeatenMohammed Nabi broke the 121run stand getting Abhishek caught for 82 off 32 balls with seven fours and seven sixes each by Rashid Khan India was 1392 in 11 oversThe combination of Nabi and Rashid also removed Ishan for 33 off 42 balls with five fours and a six India was 1523 in 124 oversIndia secured an easy win ending at 1573 in 134 overs with Shreyas Iyer 8 and Tilak Varma 3 unbeatenEarlier a late resurgence led by Azmatullah Omarzai helped Afghanistan set India a target of 157 after recovering from a nightmarish toporder collapse on SundayOmarzairsquos unbeaten 64 guided Afghanistanrsquos recovery from 435 in seven overs while Arshdeep Singh starred with 319 Axar Patel Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy chipped in with a wicket apieceAfter Indian skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl the Indian bowling attack vindicated his decision almost immediately reducing the visitors to 41 for 4 within the PowerplayReturning to his first T20I after the IPL 2026 Jasprit Bumrah made an immediate impact striking in the very first over to dismiss opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz 0 for a duckAfghanistanrsquos troubles worsened in the fourth over when a brilliant fielding effort from Ishan Kishan resulted in a runout Captain Zadran went after scoring 11 runsArshdeep Singh then removed Sediqullah Atal 13 in the following over who played a wide yorker straight into the hands of Bumrah at short thirdAxar Patel capped off the dominant Powerplay by dismissing Gulbadin Naib 2 who sliced a lofted shot to Nitish Kumar Reddy in the outfieldMystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy joined the party in the seventh over crashing through the defences of Darwish Rasooli 2 to leave Afghanistan reeling at 43 for 5 in 7 oversFollowing the collapse Azmatullah Omarzai and veteran Mohammad Nabi mounted a rescue effort The pair combined for a steady 83run partnership for the sixth wicket to bring stability to the inningsOmarzai and Nabi shifted gears in the 15th over smashing 17 runs off Reddy before adding another 16 off Axar Patelrsquos over Arshdeep Singh then returned in the 17th over to break the partnership dismissing Nabi for a 27ball 33Bumrah bowled the 18th over and only conceded 3 runs to finish off his outing with figures of 126 in 4 oversArshdeep Singh returned to bowl the penultimate over and struck twice dismissing Rashid Khan for 1 and Noor Ahmad for a duck while Azmatullah Omarzai completed his halfcentury at the other endOmarzai continued to lead Afghanistanrsquos fight with Mujeeb Ur Rahman joining him in the middle The duo smashed 21 runs off the final over bowled by Shivam Dube taking Afghanistan to 1568 in 20 overs Omarzai remained unbeaten on 64 off 44 balls with four fours and as many sixesArshdeep Singh 319 Axar Patel 127 Jasprit Bumrah 126 and Varun Chakaravarthy 116 were the wickettakers as Afghanistan set India a target of 157 runs to win in 20 oversBrief Scores Afghanistan 1568 Azmatullah Omarzai 64 Mohammed Nabi 33 Arshdeep Singh 319 beat India 1573 in 134 overs Abhishek Sharma 82 Ishan Kishan 42 Mohammad Nabi 228This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever