IND vs AFG: India take 2-0 unassailable 2-0 lead after fiery fifties from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube

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IND vs AFG: India took an unassailable 2-0 lead after beating Afghanistan by six wickets in the second T20I in the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday, January 14.

In a superb all-round performance from India, Axar Patel first registered figures of 2/17 in four overs to help India restrict Afghanistan to 172 on a very flat batting surface. Later, Yashasvi Jaiswal (68 off 34) and Shivam Dube (63* off 32) smashed fiery fifties to help India chase the target with 26 balls to spare.

India won the toss and put Afghanistan to bat first once again in the series. Ravi Bishnoi struck in third over to get rid of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (14), before Axar Patel joined the party and sent Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran packing for 8 off 10 in the sixth over.

However, Afghanistan managed to collect 58 runs in the powerplay on the back of excellent fireworks from Gulbadin Naib who emerged as his team's top-scorer. The former captain was brutal in his approach, hitting four sixes and five fours in his 35-ball innings for 57 runs.

Shivam Dube clean bowled Azmatullah Omarzai to reduce Afghanistan to 60/3 in 6.5 overs but the hammering from Gulbadin took the side to 90 in 11 overs.

But Afghanistan lost the plot once Axar clean bowled Gulbadin in the 12th over. The wickets of Mohammad Nabi (13) and Najibullah Zadran (23) left Afghanistan reeling at 134/6 at the start of the 18th over.

Karim Janat (20 off 10) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (21 off 9) scored some handy runs towards the end to take Afghanistan to a respectable but below-par total. Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi picked three and two wickets respectively.

Later, Rohit Sharma was dismissed for a golden duck in his record 150th T20I match, but his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal hit fours and sixes all around the park. The 22-year-old hammered six sixes and five fours to rip apart the Afghanistan bowling attack.

The southpaw first stitched a 57-run partnership off 28 balls with Virat Kohli (29 off 16), and then forged a 92-run stand off 42 balls with Shivam Dube.

Dube himself brought up his second consecutive fifty and remained unbeaten on 63 off 32 balls. The left-hand batter hit four sixes and five fours. Virat Kohli, who was playing in his first T20I match after November 10, 2022 - also chipped in with 29 off 16 balls.

The third T20I will be played in Bengaluru on Wednesday, January 2024.