Indian spinners upstage Afghan counterparts to help team coast to 1-0 lead

New Delhi: India took the first bite of the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan as they coasted to a seven-wicket win at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, putting behind the disappointment of the tour of the United Kingdom.

Sunday's opening game of the series, officially being hosted by the Afghans, was expected to be a close one as Ibrahim Zadran's team had put out a pitch that had some turn to aid their spinners. However, the ploy backfired as the Indian spinners weaved a web that restricted the Atalan to 156/8 in 20 overs.

Afghanistan began well, racing to 38/1 inside four overs as Jasprit Bumrah, despite snaring Rahmanullah Gurbaz on the second ball of the match, struggled to get his lines right. Bumrah bowled well but the new-ball control he is known for was lacking as he sprayed the first over with wides, conceding all seven runs through them. His second yielded 11 runs.

But just as the Afghans were coasting, the Indian spinners came into play. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel (1/27) and Varun Chakravarthy (1/16) put brakes on the scoring as the batsmen fell under pressure. Zadran was run out on the last ball of the fourth over -- Patel's first -- and then two more wickets came before the powerplay ended. Afghanistan ended the powerplay at 41/4.

Chakravarthy, brought in for the first over after powerplay, then had Darwesh Rasooli with a quicker one that came in and soon the Afghans were 43/5. Azmatullah Omarzai, the official 'Imam' or leader of the prayers in the Afghanistan dressing room, stitched an 83-run partnership (58 balls, 41 minutes) with the seasoned Mohammed Nabi.

Omarzai remained unbeaten on 64 off 44 balls (4x4s, 4x6s) while Nabi returned with 33 off 27.

India's only weak link was the fifth bowler -- the pace bowling all-rounder. Both Nitish Kumar Reddy (0/30 off two) and Shivam Dube (0/21 off one) were expensive. Their spells were the reason why the Afghans managed to get past 150 despite the poor start.

But eventually that loophole didn't matter as Abhishek Sharma went ballistic and finished the game in 13.4 overs. Sharma's 82 off 32 balls (7x4s, 7x6s) left the experienced Afghan spinners in a daze. After Sanju Samson departed for 10, Sharma added 121 runs (53 balls, 41 mins, 7x6s, 11x4s) for the second wicket with Ishan Kishan (42 off 33 balls, 5x4s, 1x6).

While pace bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi (0/38 in two overs) was clobbered, Afghans' big spin bowling hopes Rashid Khan (0/34), Noor Ahmad (0/25), Mujeeb U Rahman (0/16) were rendered toothless as well. Only off-break bowler Nabi (2/28 in three overs) was effective and his two wickets -- Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan -- were a result of good catches in the deep by Rashid Khan. In fact, those catches were Khan's only contribution in the match. He batted poorly, wasting balls for his one off 10 balls during the death overs and then bowled badly.

The Indian batters, after a miserable outing in the UK, were clearly at home on this surface.

"We are used to playing on such pitches. Against our batting line-up, you can't bowl spin," said Varun Chakravarthy.

What he didn't say was that the Afghans bowled miserably.

Tags : Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Cricket, T20, Arun Jaitley Stadium