Team India announced themselves in the Friendship Cup with a performance that was equal parts ruthless and entertaining. Chasing 157, the Men in Blue raced to a seven-wicket victory in just 13.4 overs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.
The night belonged to Abhishek Sharma. The left-hander walked in after Sanju Samson fell for 10 and immediately turned the contest into a highlight reel. He smashed 82 off only 32 balls, including seven fours and seven sixes at a strike rate of 256.25, before holing out in the 11th over. Ishan Kishan played the perfect supporting role with 42 off 33 as the pair added 121 runs in 53 balls — a partnership that left Afghanistan with no answers.
India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bowl first. The decision paid off immediately. Jasprit Bumrah removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck in the opening over. Afghanistan then imploded from 38/1 to 43/5, undone by a mix-up that ran out skipper Ibrahim Zadran and tight bowling from Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy.
Azmatullah Omarzai (64 not out off 44) and Mohammad Nabi (33) staged a recovery, adding 83 for the sixth wicket to lift Afghanistan to 156/8. Arshdeep, however, returned at the death and finished with outstanding figures of 3/19, including the wickets of Nabi and Rashid Khan.
The chase never looked in doubt after Abhishek’s onslaught. India reached 82/1 in the powerplay. Even after Sharma and Kishan departed in successive overs, Iyer and Tilak Varma calmly finished the job, with an overthrow off Rashid Khan sealing the win with 38 balls to spare.
The result continues India’s dominance in the fixture. The two sides have now played 10 T20Is, with India winning nine and one ending in no result. The Friendship Cup, hosted by Afghanistan but staged entirely in Delhi, is being used by India as a tune-up before the Asian Games. The second T20I will be played at the same venue on September 15.
