IND vs AFG: Shivam Dube, Axar Patel shine as India beat Afghanistan by six wickets in 1st T20I

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IND vs AFG: India defeated Afghanistan by six wickets in the first T20I at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Thursday, January 11. India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series by chasing a 159-run target with 15 balls to spare.

Shivam Dube came up with a brilliant all-rounder performance for India. He bowled two overs for nine runs and the wicket of Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran. In the second-half of the match, the 30-year-old hit a 38-ball fifty.

Dube looked in control of his innings and finished the match with a six and a four off Naveen-ul-Haq. He finished with 60 unbeaten runs off 40 balls. The innings consisted of five fours and two gigantic sixes. Rinku Singh stayed unbeaten on 16 off nine balls.

India lost the wicket of captain Rohit Sharma on the second ball of the innings after his mix-up with Shubman Gill which led to an easy run-out. Gill was caught ball-watching as both the openers found themselves standing at the non-striker's end.

The Punjab youngster tried to make up for his fault by hitting five cracking fours to give India the momentum in the chase. Shubman Gill (23 off 12) was clean bowled by Mujeeb Ur Rahman while trying to hit a third boundary in the fourth over. Tilak Varma (26 off 22) and Jitesh Sharma (31 off 20) also chipped in with handy contributions.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma put Afghanistan to bat first after winning the toss. Captain Ibrahim Zadran scored 25 off 22 after being dropped by Shivam Dube, while his partner Rahmanullah Gurbaz struggled during his 28-ball stay for 23 runs.

Gurbaz was stumped by Jitesh Sharma off Axar Patel in the eighth over. Azmatullah Omarzai came to bat at three and impressed with 29 off 22 before being clean bowled by Mukesh Kumar (2/33). Debutant Rahmat Shah was clean bowled by Axar for three before former captain Mohammad Nabi smashed 42 runs off 37 balls. The partnership between Nabi and Omarzai accounted for 68 runs off 43 balls.

Najibullah Zadran helped Afghanistan go past 150 with his unbeaten 19-run knock off 11 balls. The southpaw hit as many as four boundaries. Karim Janat finished on an unbeaten nine off five. The duo partnered for 28 runs off just 12 balls.