India’s cricket team secured a six-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the initial T20I on Thursday (January 11). This match, held at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, gives them a 1-0 lead in the three-game series.
The coin toss was won by Rohit Sharma who chose to let Afghanistan bat first. A commendable score of 158/5 in 20 overs was reached by Afghanistan, thanks to their valid batting effort.
Seasoned all-rounder Mohammad Nabi was their standout, hitting a quickfire 42 (27). Azmatullah Omarzai (29), Ibrahim Zadran (25), and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23) contributed but couldn’t build substantial knocks. Mukesh Kumar and Axar Patel each bagged a pair of wickets while Dube claimed one.
After that, Shivam Dube (60) struck an outstanding half-century to lead India in the chase. He was assisted in the middle by Jitesh Sharma (31), Tilak Varma (26), and Shubman Gill (23). Rinku Singh (16) made a brilliant cameo in a worthy cause, demonstrating his sustained impressive play.
The first Twenty20 International of India vs. Afghanistan, a three-match series, was entertaining for fans on social media on Thursday. They used some amusing memes on social media to convey their feelings.
The top memes are as follows:
Afghanistan captain Zadran laments lack of runs in 6-wicket defeat to India in 1st T20I
Afghan captain Ibrahim Zadran offered his reflections on the loss during the post-match press conference.
“We were short at least by 30 or 40 runs, we lost the toss unfortunately but the boys fought hard till the end. We were trying to get a start in the powerplay, me and Gurbaz, we lost wicket at the wrong time, one of us had to get going but we lost back to back wickets.”
Ibrahim Zadran
He added:
“We were under the pressure with new batters coming in. In the second innings there was a bit dew, gripping the ball was difficult and struggled with the bat, but bowlers did pretty well. We will try and improve on the fielding, we were quite lazy and also in the batting department, bowling wise we were good.”
Ibrahim Zadran
The second Twenty20 International between India and Afghanistan will take place at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Sunday, January 14.
