NEW DELHI, SEP 17 (PTI): Abhishek Sharma blew the Afghanistan attack into smithereens en route to a 30-ball hundred, the fasted by an Indian, firing his team to 221 for seven in the third and final T20 against Afghanistan here 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 already securing 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.
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 with a seated meditation pose as the crowd duly stood on their feet after witnessing a 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.
Brief Scores: India 221/7 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 108, Sanju Samson 50; Azmatullah Omarzai 2-27, Abdullah Ahmadzai 1-38) against Afghanistan
