India won by 6 wickets in first T20I against Afghanistan taking a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series. Shivam Dube has been announced as Player of the Match for his match winning unbeaten 60 runs in 40 balls. It has been a comfortable win for India in Mohali on Thursday. Both team will play their secend T20I of the series on Sunday at Indore.
Today after winning the toss Indian skipper Rohit Sharma opted to ball first. Indian bowlers bowled disciplined bowling for most part of the innings. They restricted Afghanistan to 158 on a good batting deck. Omarzai and Nabi scored the half-century partnership for Afghanistan. Azmatullah Omarzai scored 29 off 22 balls and Nabi scored 42 off 27 balls with two boundaries and three over boundaries. Gurbaz (23), Ibrahim (25), Najibullah (19) also contributed. They scored 158 runs in 20 overs losing 5 wickets. Mukesh Kumar and Axar Patel, both got 2 wickets each. Shivam Dube got one wicket.
In reply, India lost Rohit Sharma for a duck in the very first over. It was a dramatic start with Indian Captain’s run out. Even Gill (23 off 12 balls) also departed early after a good start. India were under pressure but Shivam Dube showed his class to help India secure the win. Dube with Tilak Varma (26) built a 44-run partnership. Then 45-run partnership with Jitesh Sharma (31). At last Dube (60) with Rinku Singh (16 off 9 balls) guided India to a 6 wickets victory.