3rd T201: Abhishek Sharma record-breaking ton helps India sweep series

Abhishek Sharma celebrates his century against Afghanistan in the 3rd T20I in New Delhi on Thursday

Abhishek Sharma brought a dead rubber to life with a breathtaking 30-ball century as India completed a series sweep over Afghanistan with a dominating 127-run win in the third and final T20 in New Delhi on Thursday.

Abhishek blew Afghanistan's bowling attack to smithereens en route to a 30-ball hundred, the fasted by an Indian, firing his team to 221 for seven after the opposition decided to field.

Abhishek Sharma scored the fastest T20 International hundred by an Indian, reaching the milestone in just 30 balls.

His innings of 108 off 34 balls included 11 sixes, marking his third T20 International century.

This century is also the fastest by a cricketer from a Test-playing nation against another Test-playing nation, surpassing Finn Allen's 33-ball effort.

India posted their highest powerplay score in T20s, reaching 100 for no loss, largely due to Sharma's aggressive hitting.

Sanju Samson also contributed with a fluent 50 off 35 balls, his second consecutive fifty-plus score.

 

Afghanistan, whose batting let the team down in the first two games, once again were not able to challenge India with the bat, getting bowled out for 94 in 14.1 overs. Both teams head to the Asian Games from here.

Strong comeback by Nitish Reddy

Nitish Kumar Reddy was the pick of the Indian bowlers, scalping 3 wickets in an over

India gave the opening over of Afghanistan's chase to all-rounder Nitish Reddy, who conceded 15 runs before coming back to pick three wickets later in the innings.

Rahmannullah Gurbaz (15 off 11) and Sediqullah Atal (1 off 3) fell to a slog sweep in the same over from Axar Patel in the powerplay.

Jasprit Bumrah bowled a crushing yorker to dismiss Darwish Rasooli while Yash Thakur accounted for Ibrahim Zadran in the sixth over, leaving Afghanistan at 47 for four and the door was as good as shut on Afghanistan.

Abhishek Sharma went hammer and tongs as India raced to 100 inside the Powerplay overs

Earlier, Abhishek Sharma blew the Afghanistan attack into smithereens en route to a 30-ball hundred, the fastest by an Indian, firing his team to 221 for seven in the third and final T20 against Afghanistan in New Delhi on Thursday. Abhishek hammered as many as 11 sixes in his 108 off 34 balls, his third hundred in T20 Internationals.

The breathtaking century was also the fastest by a cricketer from a Test-playing nation against a Test-playing nation, surpassing the 33-ball effort from New Zealand's Finn Allen against South Africa earlier this year. Majority of Abhishek's thundering strikes sailed over the bowler's head.

With India having already secured the series, Abhishek added the much-needed zing to a dead rubber with his sensational hitting. 

The sixes kept coming, whether he made room to play an inside out stroke or stayed still to dispatch the bowler down the ground. 

It was the first time in the series that India batted first, allowing Abhishek to make most of his time in the middle.

Thanks to his six-hitting spree, India raced to 100 for no loss in the powerplay, their highest in T20s in the first six overs.

Sanju Samson did not get to do much while Abhishek was going hammer and tongs in the powerplay but went on to make a fluent 50 off 35 balls, his second successive fifty plus score.

With both the openers in top form, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will need to warm the bench for the foreseeable future.

Abhishek was unstoppable from the get-go, maintaining same intensity against the fast bowlers and spinners.

Afghanistan, who have not been able to compete with India in the latter's own backyard, had their task cut out with Abhishek disdainfully slaying Azmat Omarzai and Fazalhaq Farooqi, who conceded 17 and 23 runs in the second and third over respectively.

Sanju Samson showed Afghan bowlers no mercy as hit a second successive half-ton

Captain Ibrahim Zadran tried spin early in the powerplay but that also did not work against a rampaging Abhishek. Samson got going with a couple of straight sixes off Mohammed Nabi before Abhishek too cleared the fence twice in the same over that went for 29 runs. Samson was also dropped on 22 at mid-off by Zadran.

Abhishek's fifty came off 16 balls before he completed his memorable hundred in the ninth over. He got to 99 via a pulsating pull off Abdullah Ahmadzai and got to three figures with a rare single.

He celebrated his milestone in a seated, meditative pose as the crowd duly stood on their feet acknowledging the special knock.

In the end, Afghanistan did well to restrict India to a sub 250 total. India only managed 37 runs in the last five overs with the loss of four wickets.