India vs Afghanistan 1st T20I: Abhishek Sharma 82 Off 32 Seals Seven-Wicket Win

Abhishek Sharma hit 82 from 32 balls as India won the first T20I against Afghanistan by seven wickets in Delhi. Afghanistan made 156 for 8 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. India passed it in 13.4 overs. The India vs Afghanistan 1st T20I result puts the hosts 1-0 up in a three-match series. Arshdeep Singh took 3 for 19.

Afghanistan lost half their side inside seven overs. They were 43 for 5. Azmatullah Omarzai then made 64 not out from 44 balls. Mohammad Nabi supported him with 33 from 27.

Omarzai and Nabi rebuild from 43 for 5

The sixth-wicket pair added 83. That is more than half of Afghanistan's total. Omarzai struck four sixes and four fours in his unbeaten innings. Nabi went at better than a run a ball.

Arshdeep was the pick of the India attack with 3 for 19 in four overs. Eastern Herald reported that Jasprit Bumrah removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the first over. Afghanistan's top five contributed 43 runs between them.

Abhishek reaches fifty in 22 balls

Sanju Samson fell for 10, according to Gulf News, and that was as close as Afghanistan came to a foothold. Abhishek and Ishan Kishan then put on 121 for the second wicket. Abhishek hit seven fours and seven sixes. His fifty came from 22 deliveries.

Kishan made 42 from 33 balls with five fours and a six. Rashid Khan bowled his four overs for 34 without a wicket. Shreyas Iyer finished 8 not out and Tilak Varma 3 not out. India needed 13.4 overs for 157.

Abhishek's strike rate was above 250. He cleared the ropes seven times and found the boundary on almost half the balls he faced. Kishan played the supporting hand. Their stand was worth 121 of the 157 India needed.

Figures from Delhi

• Afghanistan 156 for 8 in 20 overs
• Azmatullah Omarzai 64 not out from 44 balls
• Mohammad Nabi 33 from 27 balls
• Arshdeep Singh 3 for 19
• India 157 for 3 in 13.4 overs
• Abhishek Sharma 82 from 32 balls, seven fours and seven sixes
• Ishan Kishan 42 from 33 balls

Afghanistan's top order and the 1-0 deficit

Five down for 43 left Omarzai repairing rather than attacking. Even so, Afghanistan added 113 after that. It was not enough. India's bowlers had kept the target inside 160, and their batters then scored at better than eleven an over.

Abhishek made more than half of the runs India needed and used 32 of the 82 balls the chase took. Afghanistan's bowlers conceded 157 in those 82 deliveries. Two matches remain in the series.

Afghanistan took three India wickets in all. Rashid's four overs brought none of them. His 34 runs conceded came at the rate India needed from the start. The tourists will want an earlier breakthrough in the second match.