Cricket-Samson, Reddy lead India to series-clinching win over Afghanistan

Sept 15 (Reuters) - Wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson ⁠struck 57 and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy took three wickets as India beat ⁠Afghanistan by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 in Delhi on Tuesday to ‌seal an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

After winning the toss and electing to bowl, India made early inroads, dismissing Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck in the second over before reducing their opponents to ​96-5.

Captain Ibrahim Zadran anchored Afghanistan's innings with 37 off ⁠33 balls, while a late counter-attack ⁠from Mohammad Nabi (20) and Rashid Khan (28) helped them recover to 159-8 from their 20 overs.

Reddy ⁠was ‌the pick of India's bowlers, returning figures of 3-24.

India's chase got off to a blistering start as Samson and Abhishek Sharma put on 88 runs in just ⁠38 balls for the opening wicket.

Rashid sparked Afghanistan's fightback by ​dismissing Sharma for 39 ‌and Samson in quick succession before removing India captain Shreyas Iyer for 11 ⁠to leave the ​hosts on 123-3.

However, the T20 World Cup holders had enough batting depth, with Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma adding an unbeaten 40 runs off 25 balls to guide India home. Kishan sealed victory ⁠with a boundary as India reached their target with ​31 balls to spare.

India had opened the series with a commanding seven-wicket win on Sunday.

"Looking at the last match and coming into this one, we were demanding a comprehensive win and today ⁠was a good one," Iyer said.

"The journey is always going to be a roller-coaster and you have to be in equilibrium as much as possible. The more you embrace the situation, the better it gets."

India will face Afghanistan in the final T20 at the same ​venue on Thursday.

Iyer said the final match would offer an ⁠opportunity to give playing time to members of the squad who had sat out the first ​two games.

"Definitely we want all of them to get ‌used to the wicket and get some practice, ​so will be a good opportunity to give a chance to the guys sitting out," he said.

(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)

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9 月 15 日（路透社）——周二在德里举行的第二场 T20 比赛中，印度队凭借击球手兼守门员桑朱·萨姆森的 57 分和全能选手尼蒂什·库马尔·雷迪的 3 个三柱门，以 7 个三柱门击败阿富汗队，从而在三场系列赛中取得了不可撼动的 2-0 领先优势。

印度队赢得掷币权并选择先发球后，迅速取得进展，在第二局就将阿富汗开局球员拉赫曼努拉·古尔巴兹淘汰出局，随后将对手的比分限制在 96-5。

队长易卜拉欣·扎德兰以 33 球 37 分稳住了阿富汗队的局面，而穆罕默德·纳比（20 分）和拉希德·汗（28 分）的后期反击帮助他们在 20 局后恢复到 159-8 的成绩。

雷迪是印度队表现最好的投手，取得了 3-24 的成绩。

印度队的追分之路开局迅猛，萨姆森和阿比谢克·沙尔马在短短 38 个球内就为首局贡献了 88 分。

拉希德迅速将沙玛（39）和桑姆森淘汰出局，点燃了阿富汗的反击之势，随后又将印度队长什雷亚斯·艾耶尔（11）淘汰出局，使东道主以123-3领先。

然而，卫冕T20世界杯冠军的印度队拥有足够的击球深度，伊桑·基尚和蒂拉克·瓦尔马联手贡献了25球40分的不败战绩，最终帮助印度队取得胜利。基尚在比赛最后时刻击出一记边界球，锁定胜局，印度队提前31球就达到了目标分数。

印度队在周日以七个小门的巨大优势赢得了系列赛的首场胜利。

“回顾上一场比赛，我们带着必胜的决心来到这场比赛，今天我们取得了一场酣畅淋漓的胜利，”艾耶尔说道。

“人生旅程总会像坐过山车一样，你必须尽可能保持平衡。你越能接受现状，情况就会越好。”

印度将于周四在同一场地与阿富汗进行最后一场T20比赛。

艾耶尔表示，最后一场比赛将为那些在前两场比赛中没有上场的队员提供上场机会。

“我们当然希望他们都能适应球场，进行一些练习，所以这对那些没有上场的球员来说是一个很好的机会，”他说。

（Pearl Josephine Nazare在班加罗尔报道，Toby Davis编辑）

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