In-form Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal's half-centuries helped India make short work of the target of 173 to beat Afghanistan by six wickets and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-T20I series. Dube remained unbeaten for 63 off 32 balls as India got over the line with 26 balls to spare. This is India's 13th T20I series win at home since June 2019.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first. After two wides from Arshdeep Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit a boundary. Gurbaz hit Mukesh Kumar for a six and Ibrahim Zadran got a boundary. Ravi Bishnoi got the breakthrough as Gurbaz departed for a 9-ball 14. Promoted up the order Gulbadin Naib hit Mukesh for two consecutive fours. In the next over, he hit Bishnoi for a six and two fours. In the sixth over, Zadran got bowled by Axar Patel for a single-digit score.
Dube was introduced into the attack and he cleaned up Azmatullah Omarzai with a slower ball. Naib in Dube's next over hit him for two sixes. He reached his half-century from 28 balls. At the halfway stage, Afghanistan were 81/3. Washington Sundar was welcomed with a six by Naib as well. Patel struck again to dismiss Naib for a 35-ball 57 including five fours and four sixes. Bishnoi struck again and ended Mohammad Nabi's stay at the crease. He scored just 14 runs from 18 balls. In the 17th over, Najibullah Zadran hit Bishnoi for two sixes and a four.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman targetted Arshdeep and hit him for a six and a four. In the penultimate over, Rohit introduced dube. First, Karim Janat hit Dube for a four and a six. Then Mujeeb ended the over with a six. In the final over, Arshdeep dismissed Janat. He contributed with a 10-ball 20. Mujeeb managed to hit a boundary and then took a single. On the penultimate ball, Noor Ahmad was dismissed by Arshdeep. Then Mujeeb got run out off a wide ball. Fazalhaq Farooqi got run out and Afghanistan were bowled out for 172.
In the run chase, Jaiswal started with a four against Farooqi. On the fifth ball, Rohit went for a premeditated shot but missed the line and got bowled for a golden duck. Returning to the T20I side after 14 months, Virat Kohli hit Mujeeb for two fours. In the next over, Jaiswal hit the first six of the innings, Farooqi dropped Jaiswal's catch on follow-through and got hit for another six. Kohli hit a couple of boundaries and then Mujeeb hit Jaiswal for three consecutive fours. In the sixth over, Kohli hit a four and then lost his wicket to Naveen-ul-Haq. He scored 29 runs from 16 balls. India were 69/2 after six overs.
Jaiswal hit Nabi for a maximum in the eighth over. In-form Dube hit Noor for a six as he did not let the momentum die. In the 10th over, Jaiswal got to his half-century from 27 balls. Then Dube smashed Nabi for three consecutive sixes. Jaiswal accelerated and hit Noor for two sixes and a four to take the game away from the visitors. Naveen was brought back into the attack and Dube hit him for three fours. On the final ball of the over, he reached his half-century from 22 balls.
In the 13th over, Janat struck twice. Jaiswal edged one to wicketkeeper Gurbaz. He scored 68 runs from 34 balls including five fours and six sixes. Jitesh Sharma looked in a hurry to finish the match and got caught at mid-off for a two-ball duck. Dube slowed down a bit but got India over the line with 26 balls to spare. He remained unbeaten for 63 off 32 balls including five fours and four sixes.
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