Abhishek Sharma shines as India thrash Afghanistan by 7 wickets

Afghanistan struggled to find momentum with the bat apart from a crucial partnership between Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi. Jasprit Bumrah gave India the perfect start by dismissing Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the opening over, before the spinners tightened the screws and left Afghanistan reeling at 43/5 inside seven overs.

Omarzai then launched a superb counterattack to take Afghanistan close to 160, but Arshdeep Singh put the brakes on their late charge with a clever spell.

India’s chase was set up by Abhishek Sharma, who came out all guns blazing and raced to a 22-ball fifty. Ishan Kishan provided good support as the pair took the attack to Afghanistan, helping India reach 82/1 in the powerplay, with Sanju Samson the only wicket to fall.

Abhishek and Kishan eventually departed, but the damage had already been done. Abhishek’s blistering 82 off 32 balls had put India firmly in control, and they wrapped up the chase in the 14th over to seal a comfortable seven-wicket win.