India have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20 series against Afghanistan. On the back of fifties from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube, India chased down 173 runs in just 15.4 overs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal first and then Jitesh Sharma, Karim Janat got two quick wickets in the same over as India suffered a a slight hurdle in an otherwise smooth chase.
Shivam Dube slammed his second consecutive fifty off just 22 balls as he continued his good form.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube are making short work of this 173-run target as they have brought up a fifty-run stand off just 28 balls.
Yashasvi Jaiswal continued to flourish in T20Is as he smashed his fourth half-century in the format for India.
Naveen-ul-Haq ends Virat Kohli's cameo with Ibrahim Zadran taking an easy catch at mid-off. Kohli scored 29 off just 16 balls. India - 69/2 in 6 overs.
Captain Rohit Sharma's poor run in T20Is continued as he scored a second successive duck, this time a golden one as Fazalhaq Farooqi cleaned him up.
Arshdeep Singh got two wickets in the final over and a run out as Afghanistan lost three wickets in the final over but did get their score in excess of 170.
Karim Janat and Mujeeb ur Rahman smashed 20 runs off the 19th over bowled by Shivam Dube, the first instance of experimenting from the Indian team. Dube kept bowling in the hitting area and Afghanistan batters kept smashing it.
Arshdeep Singh with his clever change of pace got the big wicket of Najibullah Zadran, who after a slow start smashed 17 runs off an over of Ravi Bishnoi.
Mohammad Nabis's struggle finally came to an end he mistimed a lofted shot against Ravi Bishnoi to hand a simple catch to the long-off fielder. Afghanistan now have lost half their side before the 15th over.
Axar Patel got his 50th T20I wicket for India as he dismissed the dangerous Gulbadin Naib to leave Afghanistan four down. This was Axar's second wicket of the day and Afghanistan will need Mohammad Nabi to go big to have a chance of getting to a competitive score.
Senior all-rounder Gulbadin Naib came with a motive to attack and succeeded for the most part as despite wickets falling all around him, he kept hitting and smashed a 28-ball fifty to keep his side in the hunt.
Shivam Dube has continued his wicket-taking form from Ranji Trophy to now the T20Is as he followed up a wicket in the first game in the second one as well as he changed his pace to fox Azmatullah Omarzai and clean him up. Afghanistan have now lost three wickets, two in quick succession.
Ibrahim Zadran's frustrating stay on the crease came to an end as Axar Patel's brilliant away-spinning delivery found his off-stump and Afghanistan have lost both their openers inside the powerplay.
Former Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib made good use of batting promotion to No.3 as he smashed fours and sixes through the powerplay to race off to 32* off 16.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz had made his intentions clear with a six in the second over but couldn't make it big as he handed a simple catch to mid-on off Ravi Bishnoi.
Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and captain Ibrahim Zadran have a real chance to do some damage early doors with the bat since it is a small ground here in Indore and the ball will come nicely on to the bat.
Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first in the second game in Indore. Rohit said that there was no particular reason apart from the boundaries at the Holkar Stadium being short. Rohit also mentioned that looking at the T20 World Cup, there are a few things that the team wants to try out while ensuring that the result is in their favour as well.
The pitch in Indore is generally a belter and with small boundaries, the batters will have a field day and hence the team winning the toss might opt to field first given the dew is set to come in the latter half.
The Indian batting stalwart Virat Kohli will be making a return to T20Is after a long gap of 14 months. Kohli missed the first game due to personal reasons and all eyes will be on him and even skipper Rohit Sharma who got out for a duck in Mohali.
Welcome to our live coverage of the second T20I between India and Afghanistan from Indore. Team India won the series opener by six wickets and would be hoping to seal the series in the second game.
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