Abhishek Sharma's 32-ball 82 carries India past Afghanistan in the Delhi opener

Abhishek Sharma hit 82 from 32 balls as India chased down Afghanistan's 156 for 8 with 38 balls to spare in the first T20I in Delhi

India opened their three-match T20I series with a seven-wicket win at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, reaching 157 for 3 in 13.4 overs after Afghanistan had been held to 156 for 8.

Shreyas Iyer won the toss and bowled, and his attack reduced Afghanistan to 43 for 5 inside seven overs before Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi put on 83 for the sixth wicket to rescue the innings.

The reply was settled by a second-wicket stand of 121 between Abhishek and Ishan Kishan, who made 42 from 33 balls. Abhishek, named player of the match, reached fifty from 22 deliveries.

Bumrah strikes in the opening over

Jasprit Bumrah, passed fit in the build-up to the series, removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck in the first over and finished with 1-26 from his four.

Afghanistan managed only 41 runs in the powerplay and had lost half the side by the seventh over, Ibrahim Zadran run out for 13 after Kishan fielded and threw.

Arshdeep Singh returned the best figures of the innings, 3-19, while Varun Chakravarthy took 1-16 and Axar Patel 1-27. India used four frontline bowlers for 16 of the 20 overs.

Omarzai and Nabi rebuild

Omarzai finished 64 not out from 44 balls, reaching his fifty from 39 and staying in to the last ball of the innings.

Nabi made 33 from 27 before Arshdeep bowled him in a second spell. Their stand of 83 was worth more than half of Afghanistan's total.

Afghanistan added 113 runs after the fifth wicket fell at 43, so the recovery accounted for most of what they made on the night.

Abhishek takes the game away

Abhishek hit seven fours and seven sixes, among them 26 runs from a single Fazalhaq Farooqi over, and was out at long-on with the chase all but finished.

Kishan, keeping wicket, struck five fours and a six in his 42. Sanju Samson, back in the side, made 10.

India lost three wickets in all and overhauled the target with 38 balls to spare, the biggest of the three stands being the 121 Abhishek and Kishan put on for the second.

Iyer credits the bowling group

"Everyone worked in synergy towards the success and as I mentioned earlier, Bumrah is a great asset to the team," Iyer said afterwards, adding that "Arshdeep also bowled brilliantly, followed by Axar and Varun; the way they bowled was a phenomenal effort".

On his opener, the India captain said: "Starting off with Abhishek, I feel that the shots he played were flawless, and some of them were exemplary."

Iyer also backed Kishan, saying the wicketkeeper "has been in great form recently" and is "very relaxed, calm, and he knows his game at the moment".

Zadran points to the run-out

"We didn't get the result we wanted. I would say we had three good starts, then we didn't contribute well," Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran said.

Zadran pointed to his own dismissal as the moment the innings turned. "I would say that run-out was the turning point," he said. "Ishan Kishan grabbed the ball and threw it to the fielder, the bowler."

He added that Afghanistan "gave them back-to-back wickets and they put pressure on us", and that the middle overs had not produced enough runs to defend.

The second T20I is on 15 September and the third on 17 September, both at the same ground, with India leading 1-0.

Scorecard: Afghanistan 156 for 8 in 20 overs (Azmatullah Omarzai 64*, Mohammad Nabi 33; Arshdeep Singh 3-19) lost to India 157 for 3 in 13.4 overs (Abhishek Sharma 82, Ishan Kishan 42) by seven wickets.

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