India dished out another clinical chase against Afghanistan to clinch the three-match T20I series with a game to spare to extend their winning start to the new year.
The Men in Blue pulled off a second consecutive six-wicket victory over the Afghans with all-rounder Shivam Dube once again finishing the job for his side after bringing up a half-century, this time remaining unbeaten on 63. This was after opener Yashasvi Jaiswal laid the foundation for the victory with a blistering 68 off 34 deliveries that helped the Indians recover from yet another jittery start, with skipper Rohit Sharma getting cleaned up for a golden duck in Indore after getting run out in Mohali.
Read: Rohit hails ‘great talent’ Jaiswal and ‘powerful’ Dube
More importantly, left-arm spinner Axar Patel produced what could be described as the most crucial contribution towards the Indian victory, collecting two wickets for just 17 runs from his quota of four overs at the Holkar Stadium, a batting paradise where the average first innings score is in excess of 200.
Axar, who was the pick of the bowlers in the previous match as well, proved to the difference and helped India restrict the Afghans below 180 after Gulbadin Naib’s (57 off 35) fiery innings had the Afghans staring at the prospect of setting a target in the range of 200.
For his efforts, the Gujarat bowler was adjudged the Player of the Match.
There were quite a few milestones achieved and records broken during the course of the second T20I on Sunday, which we explore in greater detail below:
— Rohit Sharma has registered back-to-back ducks in T20Is for the first time in his career after getting cleaned up first ball off Fazalhaq Farooqi’s bowling.
— Shikhar Dhawan was the only other Indian captain to be dismissed for a duck in T20Is before Rohit’s consecutive ducks in the ongoing series. Dhawan achieved the unwanted feat during the tour of Sri Lanka in 2021.
— Afghanistan’s score of 172 all out is now their highest T20I total against India, breaking the record that they had set in Mohali three days ago with their total of 158/5.
— Shivam Dube finished unbeaten on 63, his highest score in T20Is.
— The 173-run target chased by India is the second-highest target successfully chased against the Afghans in T20Is.
— India have not lost a T20I series at home since 2019, winning 13 out of 15 assignments with two of them ending in a draw.
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