MOHALI: Shivam Dube backed his figures of 1/9 with an unbeaten 60 and played a pivotal role in India’s comfortable six-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the first T20I.
Put into bat first, Afghanistan could only raise 158/5 in the allotted 20 overs despite Mohammad Nabi’s quickfire knock at the backend.
The touring side had a cautious start to their innings as openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran put together a 50-run partnership before Axar Patel removed the former.
Gurbaz could score 23 off 28 deliveries with the help of two boundaries and a six.
His dismissal opened the floodgates as Afghanistan lost two more wickets — Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah — in quick succession and were consequently reduced to 57/3 in 10 overs.
Zadran remained a notable run-getter for Afghanistan with a 22-ball 25 while Shah only scored three.
Azmatullah Omarzai was then joined by Mohammad Nabi in the middle and they anchored the innings with a 68-run partnership.
But Mukesh Kumar found the breakthrough for India in the 18th over by getting rid of Omarzai, who scored 29 off 22 balls, laced with three boundaries and a six.
Nabi also perished in the same over as India took control. He top-scored for Afghanistan with a quickfire 42 which came off just 27 deliveries and was peppered with two boundaries and three sixes.
Najibullah Zadran’s 19-run cameo at the death took Afghanistan past the 150-run mark.
Kumar and Patel bagged two wickets each for India while Shivam Dube made one scalp.
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Set to chase 159, India comfortably amassed the target for the loss of four wickets and 15 balls to spare despite a horror start.
The hosts lost their captain Rohit Sharma, who fell for a two-ball duck.
Shubman Gill launched a counterattack on Afghanistan with belligerent but could not keep going as he was outclassed by Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s googly in the fourth over.
He scored a 12-ball 23, featuring five boundaries.
Shivam Dube then took the reigns of India’s pursuit and scored a magnificent half-century.
He led the chase with crucial partnerships, including a 45-run stand with Jitesh Sharma (31) and an unbeaten 42 with Rinku Singh, who scored 16 not out.
For Afghanistan, Mujeeb bagged two wickets while Omarzai could pick up a wicket.
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