Sixes, silence and a record rush
“Abhishek Sharma turned the third Twenty20 international into a personal highlight reel on Thursday, smashing a record-laden 108 from 34 balls as India completed a 3-0 series sweep over Afghanistan wit…”
Abhishek reached his hundred from 30 balls, the fastest T20I century against a full-member nation and the third-fastest overall, after punishing the Afghanistan attack with 11 sixes and nine fours.
His 100 runs in boundaries alone also gave him the highest percentage of boundary runs in a T20I innings, adding another landmark to a performance that had Delhi's crowd roaring from the outset. India raced to 100 in the powerplay, their highest score in the first six overs in T20Is, before eventually posting 221 for seven.
Sanju Samson provided the supporting act with a second successive half-century, scoring 56, while Abhishek's assault ensured India had enough runs in the bank when Afghanistan's bowlers found their rhythm with reverse swing. Abhishek opened his account with an extra-cover drive off Fazalhaq Farooqi before repeatedly punishing anything fractionally short or overpitched.
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Mohammad Nabi bore the brunt of the onslaught, while even Afghanistan's premier spinner Rashid Khan was charged and lofted over the boundary. Abhishek reached his fifty in just 16 balls and his century in the ninth over before celebrating in a meditation pose, a gesture associated with his mentor Yuvraj Singh.
Rashid eventually ended the assault, deceiving Abhishek with a wrong'un. The spinner then ran out Tilak Varma and later took a superb catch to dismiss Samson. India's scoring slowed sharply thereafter as Afghanistan's seamers found their yorkers with the reversing ball.
Only 37 runs came in the final five overs, but India's explosive start had already put the match beyond Afghanistan's reach. Afghanistan, who had struggled to turn promising starts into substantial totals throughout the series, collapsed for 94 in 15.5 overs.
Axar Patel struck twice early, dismissing Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal, while Jasprit Bumrah produced a trademark 143 kph yorker to bowl Darwish Rasooli. Yash Thakur claimed his first wicket of the series when Ibrahim Zadran picked out a fielder, but Nitish Kumar Reddy provided the decisive burst, taking three wickets in an over.
Reddy finished the series with six wickets, the most by any bowler, while Axar conceded only 64 runs in 11 overs for four wickets.
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