Cricket-India cruise past Afghanistan as Sharma blitz earns series lead

Sept 13 (Reuters) - India claimed ⁠a dominant seven-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the first ⁠Twenty20 international in New Delhi on Sunday, taking a ‌1-0 lead in the three-match series after chasing down a victory target of 157 with 38 balls to spare.

After Sanju Samson fell in the third over, ​Abhishek Sharma launched a blistering counterattack, smashing ⁠82 off 32 balls, while ⁠Ishan Kishan contributed 42 as the pair put India firmly in ⁠control ‌of the chase.

Sharma's aggressive strokeplay ensured Afghanistan never threatened the target, with India cruising towards victory before Mohammad ⁠Nabistruck twice late in the innings to remove ​both Sharma and ‌Kishan.

Captain ShreyasIyer and Tilak Varma then guided their side ⁠over the line, ​with Iyer finishing unbeaten on eight from five deliveries.

Afghanistan had earlier made a poor start after being put in to bat, withJasprit ⁠Bumrah, returning to the side after a ​knee injury, striking in the opening over to dismiss Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck.

They slipped to 41-4 inside the powerplay, with captain ⁠Ibrahim Zadran (11) and Sediqullah Atal (13) among the early casualties.

A steady stream of wickets kept Afghanistan under pressure throughout the innings, but Azmatullah Omarzai provided some resistance with a counter-attacking 64 off 44 ​balls.

The all-rounder shared a crucial 83-run partnership ⁠with Mohammad Nabi (33) to revive the innings before Nabi fell to ​Arshdeep Singh, who applied the brakes in ‌the death overs and finished with ​figures of 3-19.

India will face Afghanistan next on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Paras J. Haji in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)

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9 月 13 日（路透社）——周日，印度在新德里举行的首场二十20国际赛中以七个小门击败阿富汗，取得了压倒性的胜利。在三场系列赛中，印度队以 1-0 领先，他们以 38 个球的优势追平了 157 分的胜利目标。

桑朱·萨姆森在第三局出局后，阿比谢克·沙尔马发动了猛烈的反击，32球轰出82分，而伊桑·基尚也贡献了42分，两人联手让印度牢牢掌控了追分的主动权。

沙玛的积极击球确保阿富汗从未对目标构成威胁，印度一路高歌猛进，最终在比赛后期，穆罕默德·纳比斯两次击中沙玛和基尚，将他们淘汰出局。

队长 ShreyasIyer 和 Tilak Varma 随后带领球队取得了胜利，Iyer 五球拿下 8 分，未被淘汰。

阿富汗队此前被派去击球，开局不利。贾斯普里特·布姆拉在膝伤痊愈后重返球队，在第一局就取得了突破，将拉赫曼努拉·古尔巴兹淘汰出局，后者一分未得。

在强攻阶段，他们的比分下滑至 41-4，队长易卜拉欣·扎德兰（11）和塞迪库拉·阿塔尔（13）等球员早早出局。

阿富汗队在整个比赛过程中不断丢掉三柱门，一直处于压力之下，但阿兹马图拉·奥马尔扎伊以44球64分的反击为阿富汗队提供了一些抵抗。

这位全能选手与穆罕默德·纳比（33）建立了关键的 83 分伙伴关系，挽救了比赛局面，之后纳比被阿什迪普·辛格击败，后者在比赛的最后阶段控制住了局面，最终以 3-19 的成绩结束了比赛。

印度队将于周二迎战阿富汗队。

（Paras J. Haji在班加罗尔报道，Toby Davis编辑）

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