Shivam Dube starred with an all-round show as India outclassed Afghanistan in the first T20I by 6 wickets at IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali. The southpaw grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he scored a fine half-century and picked up a crucial wicket in his two-over spell on Thursday.
After electing to bowl first, India managed to restrict Afghanistan to 158/5 in 20 overs. In reply, Dube smashed 60* off 40 balls as India chased down the target with 15 balls to spare.
Dube, who last played for India in the Asian Games, made a strong case for himself and scored the winning runs for India. His knock was laced with 5 fours and 2 sixes.
India had a horrible start in the 159-run chase as skipper Rohit Sharma, who was playing a T20I after almost 14 months, was run out for nought after poor communication in the middle with his opening partner Shubman Gill.
Rohit left the middle in frustration and was a bit livid with his opening partner.
Meanwhile, Shubman started strong and scored five boundaries but was dismissed inside powerplay for 23 off 12 balls by Mujeeb-ur-Rahman.
Tilak Varma (26) and Jitesh Sharma (31) also made valuable contributions with the bat for India as they stitched crucial partnerships with Dube to put India in a commanding position throughout the chase.
Designated finisher Rinku Singh remained unbeaten for 16 off 9 balls.
Earlier, a lively 68-run partnership off 43 balls between the seasoned Mohammad Nabi and youthful Azmatullah Omarzai lifted Afghanistan to 158 for five after India dominated the powerplay in the first T20I.
A stroke-filled partnership between Nabi (42 off 27) and Omarzai (29 off 22) was just what Afghanistan needed after India reduced the visitors to 57 for three in 10 overs amid chilly conditions at the PCA Stadium.
Openers Rahamanullah Gurbaz (23 off 28) and skipper Ibrahim Zadran (25 off 22) could only find four boundaries in the powerplay.
The start of the game was delayed by a few minutes as a flickering blue light around the sightscreen distracted Gurbaz.
Pacer Arshdeep Singh opened the innings with a maiden before the spinners got into the game as early as the fourth over.
Axar Patel ended up as the stand-out bowler for India with figures of 4-0-23-2.
Afghanistan badly needed a move on and that came via the experience of Nabi and Omarzai, who had impressed with his all-round abilities in the ODI World Cup in India.
Both targeted Ravi Bishnoi and Mukesh Kumar in the middle overs.
Nabi’s back to back sixes off Mukesh stood out in his quickfire knock. He first made room to smash him over extra cover and waited still for the second ball to dispatch it over mid-wicket. India dropped three catches in the biting cold of Mohali.
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