Delhi: The storm that came out of Abhishek Sharma’s bat devastated Afghanistan’s bowling at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. After this, the Indian bowlers exposed the Afghan batsmen as well. In this way, Team India won the three-match T20I series 3-0. Team India, which had already won the series, scored a huge score of 221/7 in the third match and then won the match by bowling out Afghanistan for 94 runs. This is the lowest score of the Afghan team against India in T20I cricket.
Afghanistan’s shameful defeat
Afghanistan lost by 127 runs, which is their biggest defeat in T20I cricket. Before this, the Afghan team had suffered its biggest defeat at the hands of England in 2012. Afghanistan was defeated by 116 runs in that match. On the other hand, India has equaled Canada’s record with this big win. Actually, Team India has won by more than 100 runs for the 10th time in T20I cricket. In this way, it has jointly reached par with Canada in terms of winning by 100 or more runs in T20Is the most number of times. Both now have 10 wins each.
Abhishek Sharma was the hero of India’s victory, who scored the fastest century for India in T20I cricket by scoring a century in just 30 balls. He played a stormy innings of 108 runs in 34 balls, which included 9 fours and 11 sixes. This was his third century in T20 International.
Abhishek showed the power of the bat
On being invited to bat first, Abhishek took full advantage of the pitch. He attacked Afghanistan’s bowlers from the very beginning. Abhishek had completed his half-century in just 16 balls. After this he did not let his pace slow down and completed his century in the ninth over. He reached 99 by hitting a strong pull on the ball of Abdullah Ahmadzai and then completed a brilliant century by taking one run. As soon as the century was completed, Abhishek celebrated in a meditative manner by sitting on the field. The spectators present in the stadium stood up and greeted his special innings.
India’s record score in powerplay
Abhishek’s explosive batting can be gauged from the fact that India scored 100 runs in 6 overs of powerplay without losing any wicket. This was India’s highest score in the first 6 overs in T20 cricket. Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran tried to stop Abhishek’s pace by trying spin in the powerplay itself, but this strategy also did not work. In Mohammad Nabi’s over, Sanju Samson hit two consecutive sixes and in the same over, Abhishek also took the ball across the boundary line twice. This over was for a total of 29 runs.
Samson also got a lease of life in mid-off on a personal score of 22 runs. However, he took advantage of this and reached 50 runs in 35 balls. This was his second consecutive half-century. Abhishek also scored a lot of runs against Azmatullah Umarzai and Fazalhaq Farooqui. Umarzai gave 17 runs in the second over of the innings, while 23 runs came against Farooqui in the third over.
Afghan bowlers took knees
In front of Abhishek’s batting speed, Afghanistan’s bowlers were seen under pressure from the initial overs. Abhishek fully took advantage of India batting first and added excitement to this formal match of the series. However, Afghanistan tried to make a comeback in the last five overs. India lost four wickets during this period and added only 37 runs. Despite this, India managed to reach a strong score of 221/7. Chasing the huge target of 222 runs, Afghanistan did not have a good start. Indian bowlers made chasing the target difficult by taking wickets at regular intervals. Ultimately, India won the match by bowling out Afghanistan for 94 runs in 14.1 overs and registered a resounding 3-0 victory in the series.