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Shivam Dube’s second T20I half-century and handy contributions from the middle-order batters helped India beat Afghanistan by six wickets in the first T20I in Mohali. Despite skipper Rohit Sharma’s two-ball duck and quiet powerplay overs, India chased down the target of 159 with 15 balls to spare.
Earlier, Rohit won the toss and opted to bowl first. Arshdeep Singh started with a maiden over to Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Skipper Ibrahim Zadran and Gurbaz were not destructive in the powerplay over as Afghanistan were 33 for no loss after six overs. Zadran hit Washington Sundar for the first six of the innings. Gurbaz in the next over did it against Axar Patel. But the left-arm spinner got Gurbaz stumped. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 23 runs from 28 balls in the 50-run partnership. Dube was brought into the attack and he dismissed Zadran. The skipper scored 25 runs from 22 balls. Axar in his third over got rid of on-debut Rahmat Shah. Afghanistan were 57/3 at the halfway stage.
Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi pushed the scoring rate in the middle overs. Ravi Bishnoi in his 15th over conceded 16 runs. In the 16th over, Nabi hit Mukesh Kumar for two consecutive sixes. In the 18th over, Mukesh broke the partnership with the wicket of Omarzai. He scored 29 runs from 22 balls. On the final ball, he dismissed Nabi as well. His 27-ball 42 featured two fours and three sixes. In the penultimate over, Najibullah Zadran got a reprieve. Sundar conceded three boundaries in the over. In the final over, Najibullah hit three fours and helped his side post 158/5. He remained unbeaten for 19 runs from 11 balls.
India faced an early jolt in the run chase as Rohit got run out on the second ball after a mix-up with Shubman Gill. After the wicket, Gill hit a few boundaries but stepping down to Mujeeb Ur Rahman was a mistake. Gill got stumped for a 12-ball 23. Tilak Varma and Dube were cautious in the powerplay overs. India had 36/2 after six overs. Dube accelerated against Nabi hitting him for a maximum and a four. In the next over, Tilak hit Naveen-ul-Haq for a six. Tilak could not convert it into a big score. He fell to Omarzai after scoring 26 runs from 22 balls. At the halfway stage, India were 83/3.
Jitesh did not take much time to get going. He hit five fours in his 20-ball 31 before getting Mujeeb's second victim of the evening. In the same over, Rinku Singh got off the mark with a boundary. In the 17th over, Dube reached his half-century from 38 balls. He finished the run chase with a six and a four off Naveen to get India over the line in the 18th over. Dube remained unbeaten for 60 off 40 balls including five fours and a couple of sixes.
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