India kicked off the T20 series against Afghanistan with a seven-wicket win in Delhi in the delivery of the highlight power hit of the tournament with Abhishek Sharma. In search of 157, India had to make only 13.4 overs to clinch the game with Abhishek blitzing for 82 off 32 balls to make Afghanistan 100 runs short.
Afghanistan had suffered five wickets and were in serious trouble with the score 43 for 1 as 53-year-old Azmatullah Omarzai came to their rescue with a stellar half-century. He then put the pacers to use by flattering the hosts with a 64, putting Afghanistan 156 for 8.He picked up his pace in reply with 64 to give Afghanistan something to play for. But, in Delhi, on a good batting surface, the combined effort was likely never to be sufficient when faced by a full-strength India side.
The match was also the return of the bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy who took injury and missed the fitness week. Both bowlers started well, Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel also performed well with the ball.
In the first over, Bumrah had a princely event on his return. He made five wide-field shots but then immediately showed everyone his quality. Today, he has done the same with his second ball, finding space and bounce, which compelled Rahmanullah Gurbaz to direct the ball towards slip. But that moment did not last long for Gurbaz and India played into him immediately.
The Afghan pair of new faces Sediqullah Atal and Ibrahim Zadran used the initial two overups to query yet answer. Atal, who had picked up Bumrah net of a flat six and four, provided a fresh note to the innings for the Afghan team. But the run marred a soon-to-be-compromised run.
Zadran was out at the end of fourth over, giving the door to India. Atal was then taken off by Arshdeep for a full delivery towards short third. A running catch by Nitish Kumar Reddy took trouble away from both the bowlers from Axar Patel as he sliced the ball towards him.
Varun Chakravarthy then made his comeback count as Rasooli was bowled off, giving his team their fourth wicket. He knocked off the wickets in a matter of accurate and quick deliveries to bring the Afghan bowlers down 43 for 5 on the seventh over.
But, Afghanistan still had Omarzai. The allrounder had a wonderful counter attack and put the ball in the net.
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