Afghanistan fold for 94 in Delhi as Ibrahim Zadran calls for more cricket against the best

Afghanistan were bowled out for 94 in Delhi, their lowest T20I total against India, as a 127-run defeat completed a 3-0 series sweep

Afghanistan chose to bowl at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday night and then watched India bat through their 20 overs for 221 for 7. The reply lasted 14.1 overs and ended on 94 all out.

The 127-run margin is the heaviest Afghanistan have been beaten by in a Twenty20 international, and the total is the lowest they have made against India in the format.

It closed a tour they lost 3-0, and left the captain, Ibrahim Zadran, arguing that it is the fixture list rather than the personnel holding his side back.

Reddy and Bishnoi share six wickets

Nitish Kumar Reddy finished with 3-25 and Ravi Bishnoi with 3-26, the two of them taking six of the ten wickets.

Reddy accounted for Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Bishnoi closed the innings out by removing Rashid Khan and Abdullah Ahmadzai.

Axar Patel took two, including the first breakthrough, and Jasprit Bumrah and Yash Thakur one each. Thakur ended Zadran's innings and Bumrah dismissed Darwish Rasooli.

Only the captain held an end

Zadran top-scored with 25 from 16 balls, the only Afghanistan batter to look settled against the new ball.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz made 15 from 11 before Axar had him, and Noor ul Rahman made 11 lower down.

Sediqullah Atal went without scoring and Rasooli was out first ball, leaving the middle order to face spin with the required rate already beyond reach.

A batting record Afghanistan will want back

Afghanistan have built their limited-overs reputation on a top order that can take a game away from a stronger side, and across this tour it did not come off once.

The series was gone before Delhi, the sweep confirming that they had lost the first two matches as well, and the last of the three produced the sort of total that follows a side around.

The previous mark, 111 for 8 at the 2022 Asia Cup, was at least made across a full 20 overs. This one was over with 35 balls of the innings unused.

Zadran points at the schedule

"Definitely disappointed. We improved a little bit in the powerplay. Totally happy with the intent. In today's game, we have given back-to-back wickets," Zadran said after the match.

He framed the series as a measurement rather than a verdict. "Yes, we will struggle a little bit in one or two series, but with time we will improve," he said.

Zadran returned to a point Afghanistan's captains have made for years — that the side is not playing enough cricket against the teams it is being judged against. "This is the first series for us in T20 after the World Cup. We need to play more games, more series especially against the biggest teams. That's how we can improve," he said.

India finish with a clean sweep

India's total was built on a century from Abhishek Sharma, who made 108 at the top of the order, and Sanju Samson's 50 from 35 balls.

The win completed a 3-0 sweep for a home side that had rested and rotated several first-choice players across the series without the margin ever narrowing.

Afghanistan were beaten in every phase of the three matches, with the powerplay batting Zadran singled out the one area he was willing to defend.

Their next assignment will decide how much of this is a slump and how much is the gap the captain described, and on his own account it is the kind of fixture Afghanistan are not getting often enough.

Scorecard: India 221 for 7 (20 overs) beat Afghanistan 94 all out (14.1 overs) by 127 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.

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