All-rounder Shivam Dube justified his selection with a magnificent all-round performance as Team India romped to a 1-0 series lead in the first T20I against Afghanistan on a chilly night in Mohali. The left-hander came to the crease under some pressure, but did it all so effortlessly with 2.2 overs to spare.
After electing to bowl first despite dew unlikely to arrive, Afghanistan openers took time to open up. However, skipper Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz raised their 50-run stand in the 8th over. Nevertheless, the same over saw Axar Patel strike to remove Gurbaz. Rohit Sharma handing the ball to Dube proved more than fruitful as it yielded Ibrahim Zadran's scalp in the 2nd ball of his over.
Rahmat Shah, who was on debut, became Axar's 2nd wicket after chopping one onto the stumps. Even as they took time to bed in, Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi kept one or two big shots coming in every over. The pair added 68, with Nabi mowing Ravi Bishnoi's 3rd over for 16 runs, followed by 2 more sixes in the next over off Mukesh Kumar.
But Kumar came back strongly in the next over to get rid of Omarzai, followed by Nabi in the last over. It proved to be the game-changing over, but Najibullah Zadran's 15-run over still gave the tourists 159 to defend.
Afghanistan draw first blood as Rohit Sharma goes for duck after horrible mix-up:
The tourists made the first incision in the opening over of the run-chase as some terrific fielding from skipper Ibrahim Zadran. Shubman Gill played some terrific shots before Mujeeb Ur Rahman flummoxed him.
All-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai made a vital strike in the 9th over as Gulbadin Naib held on to an overhead catch. At the other end, Shivam Dube remained unflappable and Jitesh Sharma emerged as the perfect foil, hitting 31 off 19 deliveries to stitch a partnership of 45 off 31 deliveries.
Dube reached his 2nd half-century in the format off 38 deliveries and hit the winning runs in the form of a six and a four to take India to victory.
