Cricket-Abhishek blazes fastest century in full-member T20s as India sweep Afghanistan

Sept 17 (Reuters) - India opener Abhishek Sharma ⁠smashed the fastest Twenty20 International century by a batter from a full-member nation on Thursday, ⁠blasting a 30-ball hundred as the hosts thrashed Afghanistan by 127 runs in Delhi ‌to complete a 3-0 series sweep.

The 26-year-old hammered 108 off 34 balls, striking nine fours and 11 sixes before falling to Rashid Khan. His hundred eclipsed the previous India record of a 35-ball century set by stalwart Rohit Sharma against Sri ​Lanka in 2017.

Fellow opener and wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson chipped in ⁠with 50 off 35 deliveries as India ⁠posted 221-7 after Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bowl.

Afghanistan's reply never took off as ⁠the ‌visitors slumped to 47-4 and were eventually bowled out for 94 in 14.1 overs.

Captain Ibrahim Zadran was the only Afghanistan batter to cross 20, making 25, while India all-rounder Nitish Kumar ⁠Reddy and spinner Ravi Bishnoi dismantled the batting lineup with three ​wickets apiece.

"I feel it's all ‌dependent on my process before every series," Abhishek said. "It's very particular for me, against ⁠who I play and ​their bowlers, how I'm going to utilise the powerplay... The way I play, it's very important for the captain and the coach to be on your side.

"You have to get surety. I feel this is because of ⁠them as well... It's very simple from day one. I ​just want to express myself. Just see the ball and hit the ball.

"You can't be sure you'll be doing well all the time, but the culture we've developed in our team is to dominate, and ⁠it's been going well so far."

India had already wrapped up the series with a seven-wicket victory in the second T20 on Tuesday, having opened the contest with another convincing seven-wicket win on Sunday.

"Definitely disappointed," Zadran said. "We improved a little bit in the powerplay. Totally happy with the intent...

"Yes, we will ​struggle a little bit in one or two series, but with time ⁠we will improve. If we don't have intent, it is really hard to beat international teams.

"We need ​to play more games and more series, especially against the biggest ‌teams. That's how we can improve."

India next face ​Japan in a one-off T20 on September 22 before beginning their Asian Games campaign at the quarter-final stage six days later.

(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru;Editing by Christian Radnedge)

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9 月 17 日（路透社）——周四，印度开球手阿比谢克·沙玛 (Abhishek Sharma) 以 30 球轰出 100 分，创造了正式成员国球员在 T20 国际赛中最快取得百球的纪录，帮助东道主印度队在德里以 127 分的优势击败阿富汗队，以 3-0 横扫系列赛。

这位26岁的球员仅用34球就轰出108分，其中包括9个四分球和11个六分球，最终被拉希德·汗淘汰出局。他的百球成绩打破了此前由印度传奇球星罗希特·沙玛在2017年对阵斯里兰卡时创下的35球百球纪录。

另一位开球手兼击球手桑朱·萨姆森（Sanju Samson）贡献了 50 分（35 球），帮助印度队在阿富汗队赢得掷币权并选择先发球后，取得了 221-7 的成绩。

阿富汗队的反击始终未能奏效，客队一度跌至 47-4，最终在 14.1 局内被淘汰出局，总得分为 94 分。

队长易卜拉欣·扎德兰是阿富汗队唯一一位得分超过 20 分的击球手，他得了 25 分，而印度全能选手尼蒂什·库马尔·雷迪和旋转球手拉维·比什诺伊各取三分，彻底摧毁了阿富汗队的击球阵容。

阿布舍克说：“我觉得一切都取决于我每次系列赛前的准备工作。对我来说，这非常特殊，取决于我面对的对手和他们的投手，以及我将如何利用强力击球阶段……以我的打法来说，队长和教练的支持非常重要。”

“你必须要有把握。我觉得这也是因为他们……从一开始就很简单。我只想表达自己。只要看到球，然后击球就行了。”

“你不可能一直都做得很好，但我们团队培养的文化就是要占据主导地位，而且到目前为止，这种文化一直很奏效。”

印度队在周二的第二场 T20 比赛中以 7 个小门获胜，从而结束了系列赛。此前，他们在周日的首场比赛中也以 7 个小门获胜。

“确实很失望，”扎德兰说道。“我们在强攻方面有所进步。我对球队的意图完全满意……”

“是的，我们可能会在一两场系列赛中遇到一些困难，但随着时间的推移，我们会进步。如果我们没有必胜的决心，就很难击败国际强队。”

“我们需要打更多的比赛，更多的系列赛，尤其是和强队交手。这样我们才能进步。”

印度接下来将于9月22日与日本进行一场单场T20比赛，六天后他们将开始亚运会四分之一决赛的征程。

（Pearl Josephine Nazare在班加罗尔报道；Christian Radnedge编辑）

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