India won the toss and decided to bowl first. The hosts did a good job to restrict Afghanistan to 158/5. The opening pair added 50 before Axar foxed the dangerous Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 off 28) and had him stumped. Dube struck soon after as Ibrahim Zadran (25 off 22) hit one straight to short cover. Rahmat Shah (3) then dragged a delivery from Axar onto his stumps. Afghanistan were 57/3 at the halfway stage.
Mohammad Nabi (42 off 27) and Azmatullah Omarzai (29 off 22) added 68 runs for the fourth wicket. Both fell to Mukesh Kumar in the 18th over. However, Najibullah Zadran (19 not out off 11) and Karim Janat (9 not out off 5) provided Afghanistan with the final flourish.
Chasing 159, Team India lost skipper Rohit Sharma for a duck, run out second ball. The Indian captain wanted a run, but Shubman Gill was watching the ball and forced his captain to walk back in disgust. Gill looked good and hit a few well-timed fours. However, he was out for 23 off 12, stumped off Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s bowling.
Varma (26 off 22) and Dube featured in a third wicket stand of 44. After the former’s dismissal, Jitesh Sharma joined Dube and contributed a crucial 31 off 20. Jitesh also fell to Mujeeb, looking for a big hit. However, Dube was there till the end, hitting five fours and two sixes in his unbeaten knock. At the other end, Rinku Singh also contributed a handy 16 not out off 9 balls.
Speaking after the win, skipper Rohit said, “Lot of positives, we got a lot from this game, especially with the ball. Wasn't the easiest of conditions. Our spinners bowled really well and the seamers also did the job as well.”
On the run out incident, he added, “These things happen. When it happens you feel frustrated, you want to be out there and score runs for the team. Everything will not go your way. We won the game, that's more important.”
--By A Cricket Correspondent
