Chasing 157, after the bowlers held Afghanistan to 156\/8, Abhishek took the Powerplay to leave the hosts' bowling attack completely flattened under a barrage of boundary hits from his willow in his 32-ball knock. He also shared a 121-run stand for the second wicket with Ishan Kishan (42 off 33 balls) to ensure India got home with 38 balls remaining.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India were in cruise control from the outset. Sanju Samson set the early tone with a flick and loft off Fazalhaq Farooqi. But the flick eventually brought Samson\u2019s downfall, as he was too early into his shot and was caught by deep square leg off Azmatullah Omarzai.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But Abhishek, who got off the mark with an inside-out loft off Mujeeb Ur Rahman, launched an all-out assault \u2013 after lofting and pulling Omarzai for boundaries, he tore into Farooqi. He first lofted him over cover for a crisp six before walloping a slower bouncer into the deep midwicket stand.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He looted 26 runs off the fifth over from Farooqi, alongside Kishan, who launched him for a mammoth second-tier six, before backing away to carve another boundary over point. Mohammad Nabi\u2019s spin as Abhishek got a streaky slice past gully for four, before swatting him over mid-on for six as India got 82 runs off power-play.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Abhishek brought up India\u2019s century and his 12th T20I fifty off just 22 balls with a gentle tuck to the leg side, before tearing into Rashid Khan - after stepping out to launch a towering six over mid-wicket, he ended the ninth over with a flat-batted hit over deep extra cover.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Abhishek\u2019s relentless assault when he pulled a skiddy length ball from Noor Ahmad over wide long-on for six, before leaning into a gorgeous lofted drive going over deep extra cover for another maximum, even as Kishan drilled one past the wrist-spinner for four.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After leaving Afghanistan fielders shocked by slog-sweeping Nabi for six, Abhishek couldn\u2019t get hold of a full toss and holed out to long-on, who took a reverse-cupped catch before sliding on the ground.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Abhishek\u2019s relentless assault when he pulled a skiddy length ball from Noor Ahmad over wide long-on for six, before leaning into a gorgeous lofted drive going over deep extra cover for another maximum, even as Kishan drilled one past the wrist-spinner for four.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 156\/8 in 20 overs (Azmatullah Omarzai 64 not out, Mohammad Nabi 33; Arshdeep Singh 3-19, Varun Chakaravarthy 1-16) lost to India 157\/3 in 13.4 overs (Abhishek Sharma 82, Ishan Kishan 42; Mohammad Nabi 2-28, Azmatullah Omarzai 1-14) by seven wickets<\/p>\r\n\r\n