INDIA SEAL SERIES
Jaiswal, Dube help hosts beat Afghanistan in second T20
Scintillating halfcenturies from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube helped India beat Afghanistan by six wickets in the second T20I in Indore and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. This win also extended India's unbeaten streak in the bilateral T20I series at home to 15. The last time they lost a home T20I series was in 2019, when Australia beat them 2-0.
After being sent in, Afghanistan rode on Gulbadin
Naib's 57 off 35 balls before India applied the brakes. But a late assault from Karim Janat and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who scored a combined 41 off 19, lifted the visitors to 172.
During the chase, Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled Rohit Sharma for a first-ball duck. Rohit was out without scoring in the first T20I as well, where he was run out off his second ball. Virat Kohli, playing his first T20I since the 2022 T20 World Cup, also looked to attack right away. He was a lot more successful than his captain, scoring 29 off 16.
The stars of the match, though, were Jaiswal and Dube. The two seemed to be competing against each other with the Afghanistan bowlers looking incidental. Jaiswal reached his fifty off 27 balls and Dube off just 22 as both tried to send every possible ball to the boundary. As a result, India chased down their target in just 15.4 overs.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz gave Afghanistan a quick start, hitting the first legal delivery of the first over for a four and the first one of the second for a six. But his stay was short-lived as he fell to Ravi Bishnoi for 14 off nine.
No. 3 Naib ensured Afghanistan did not lose their momentum. He hit back-to-back fours off Mukesh Kumar before topping it with 6, 4, 4 off Bishnoi in the next over. He ended the powerplay with yet another boundary, taking Afghanistan to 58 for 2 after six.
At the other end, Shivam Dube castled Azmatullah Omarzai with a back-of-thehand slower ball. But Naib took a liking to him, hitting the mediumpacer for two sixes in his next over, the ninth. Between those two hits, he had a slice of luck as well, when Kohli, charging in from long-on, shelled a difficult low chance. Naib was on 41 then.