Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], June 13 (ANI): Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 84 and three-wicket hauls by both the debutants Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey helped India clinch a seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in the first ODI of the three-match series, at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala on Saturday.
After bowlers Brar and Dubey combined to bowl Afghanistan out for 194 in 24.5 overs in a rain-shortened 25-overs-per-side contest, India’s batters responded with a blend of aggression and composure, chasing down the 195-run target with ease to seal a seven-wicket victory.
Skipper Gill led the chase with a superb unbeaten 84 off 66 deliveries, hitting eight fours and two sixes. He was well supported by Ishan Kishan (34) and KL Rahul (39 runs off 19 balls) as India chased down the target in just 22.5 overs.
India began the chase with clear intent to make full use of the powerplay overs. Rohit Sharma (16) and Shubman Gill looked comfortable from the get-go, punishing anything loose from the Afghan pacers. Rohit looked in good touch as India reached 40 for no loss in 5 overs.
However, just as the opening stand looked threatening, Afghanistan found a breakthrough in the 6th over. Responding to a call by Gill for a quick single, Rohit was caught short of his crease after a lapse in communication. Gill couldn’t clear the bowler’s follow-through, leaving the former captain stranded at the non-striker’s end. Rohit departed for a run-a-ball 16, leaving India at 47/1 after 6 overs.
However, the dismissal did not affect India’s scoring rate much. Left-hander Kishan (34 runs off 22 balls) joined his skipper, and the duo immediately took the attack to the opposition.
Both Kishan and Gill pushed India’s score past the 100-run mark in the 12th over. The Indian skipper raced to a half-century off just 37 deliveries, as India stood at 109/2 in 12 overs.
With the game rapidly slipping away at 109/1, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi threw the ball to his premier spinner, Rashid Khan. The ace leg-spinner provided immediate relief. He broke the threatening 70-run partnership by removing Ishan Kishan in the 13th over.
Sensing an opening, Rashid struck again shortly after, trapping Shreyas Iyer (12 runs off 15 balls) cheaply to give the visiting side a brief sniff of a comeback with India being 143/3 after 18 overs.
Any hopes of an Afghanistan comeback were swiftly dashed when KL Rahul joined Shubman Gill at the crease, with the duo stitching together an unbeaten 53-run stand off just 32 deliveries.
Rahul took the attack to Zia Ur Rahman, smashing two sixes and two fours in a single over to collect 20 runs and shift the momentum firmly in India’s favour. Gill then put the finishing touches on the chase by striking three boundaries off Azmatullah Omarzai, guiding India to a comfortable seven-wicket victory in 22.5 overs. While Gill remained not out for 84, Rahul scored a 19-ball 39 with four boundaries and three sixes.
Notably, Gill also became the second-fastest cricketer to reach 3000 ODI runs (by innings), as he achieved the milestone in 62 innings, behind only Hashim Amla, who did it in just 57 innings.
With the win, India take a 1-0 lead in the three ODI series.
Earlier, the match was reduced to a 25-overs-a-side contest, with each team allowed a maximum of five bowlers, who were allowed to bowl up to five overs each after rain halted the fixture for more than 4 hours.
India handed debuts to Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar, and the duo made an immediate impact, sharing six wickets between them with three scalps each.
Asked to bat first, Afghanistan were off to a shaky start as openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran walked out to the middle. Debutant Gurnoor Brar struck early for India, dismissing Ibrahim for just one run and bringing Sediqullah Atal to the crease.
India tightened their grip soon after, with Arshdeep Singh removing Atal for a duck to leave Afghanistan in early trouble. Rahmat Shah then joined Gurbaz in the middle, but the wicketkeeper-batter continued to counterattack, playing his shots freely and keeping the scoreboard moving despite the early setbacks.
Arshdeep Singh, in his following over, struck again, removing Shah for 3, bringing skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi to the crease. From then on, the duo stitched a vital partnership to take Afghanistan out of trouble.
By the end of 10 overs, Afghanistan had recovered to 79/3, courtesy largely of an innings from Gurbaz, who brought up a well-crafted half-century.
After reaching his fifty, Gurbaz shifted into an even higher gear, taking the attack to the Indian bowlers with a series of aggressive strokes. The opener found boundaries regularly and dispatched loose balls, keeping the scoreboard ticking at a brisk rate and putting India under pressure.
In the 15th over, Gurbaz brought up his 9th ODI hundred, after pushing the ball for a couple of runs off Brar. In the very next over, Nitish Reddy struck and cleaned up Gurbaz for 102 off 51 balls, laced with eight fours and sixes each, bringing Azmatullah Omarzai to the crease.
The duo of Gurbaz and Shahidi added 116 runs off 66 balls for the fourth wicket. 116 in 11 overs, the partnership run-rate of 10.54 is now the second best for any century stand for Afghanistan in ODIs, only behind 12.1 (111 in 9.1 overs) between Ibrahim Zadran and Mohammad Nabi against England during the Champions Trophy last year.
This is also the seventh hundred for Gurbaz as a designated wicketkeeper; only Quinton de Kock got more (13) before turning 25.
Another debutant, Harsh Dubey, struck in the 17th over, removing Afghanistan skipper Shahidi for 27, bringing veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi to the crease.
As the visitors were stitching another vital partnership, Reddy struck again, removing Nabi for 9 after being clubbed for a massive six, bringing Rashid Khan to the crease.
In the very next over, Dubey struck twice to deliver a double blow, removing Azmatullah Omarzai for 26 and AM Ghazanfar for a duck, and bringing Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi to the crease.
In the final over of the innings, Brar returned to wrap things up in style. The debutant picked up his second wicket of the match by dismissing Rashid Khan for 9, before striking two balls again later to remove Sharifi for 4, bundling Afghanistan out for 194. (ANI)
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