{"id":2053,"date":"2026-09-18T08:38:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T08:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/09\/18\/abhishek-sharmas-century-powers-india-to-127-run-win-over-af\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T08:38:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T08:38:29","slug":"abhishek-sharmas-century-powers-india-to-127-run-win-over-af","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/09\/18\/abhishek-sharmas-century-powers-india-to-127-run-win-over-af\/","title":{"rendered":"Abhishek Sharma&#8217;s Century Powers India to 127\u2011Run Win Over Afghanistan in Delhi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>India completed a clean sweep of the three\u2011match T20 International series against Afghanistan on Thursday, winning the final fixture by 127 runs at New Delhi\u2019s Arun Jaitley Stadium. The decisive performance came from opening batsman Abhishek Sharma, whose 100 runs off just 30 deliveries earned him the Player of the Match award and set the platform for a total of 221 for seven.<\/p>\n<h2>Match overview and key moments<\/h2>\n<p>The toss was won by Afghanistan, who elected to bowl first. On\u2011field umpires Ahmad Shah Durrani and Ahmad Shah Pakhteen, third umpire Izatullah Safi, reserve umpire Mahmood Kharoti and match referee Dean Cosker oversaw the game.<\/p>\n<p>India\u2019s innings began aggressively. Sharma smashed a 16\u2011ball half\u2011century, reaching fifty in just 16 balls while striking eight fours and seven sixes. He continued his on\u2011fire display, adding another fifty to reach a century in 30 balls, hitting nine fours and ten towering sixes. His strike rate of 345.45 made the opening partnership a record\u2011setting powerplay display. Sanju Samson contributed a steady 50, while Shreyas Iyer, the captain, anchored the middle overs. By the end of the 20th over, India were 221 for seven, having accelerated to 191 for four after 16 overs before Afghanistan\u2019s bowlers tightened the run flow in the final overs.<\/p>\n<p>Afghanistan\u2019s bowlers, led by captain Ibrahim Zadran, managed to restrict India to just two boundaries in the last 24 balls. Despite the late surge in run rate, the Indian side crossed the 220\u2011run threshold, a target that proved beyond Afghanistan\u2019s reach.<\/p>\n<p>In response, Afghanistan\u2019s chase collapsed dramatically. The opening partnership was dismantled early, with Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah taking wickets inside the Powerplay. By the end of the sixth over, Afghanistan were 51 for four, having lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal. The middle order offered brief resistance; Noor ul Rahman and Azmatullah Omarzai added 23 runs together, but a decisive spell from Nitish Kumar Reddy in the 12th over produced three wickets in a single over, removing Mohammad Nabi, Omarzai and Mujeeb Ur Rahman for a single run. The innings stalled at 94 for ten after 14.1 overs, handing India a comprehensive victory.<\/p>\n<h2>Series context and team news<\/h2>\n<p>The win marked India\u2019s third consecutive victory in the series, completing a 3\u20110 whitewash. The result also secured the series for India before the final match, allowing team management to experiment with squad selections ahead of the upcoming Asian Games.<\/p>\n<p>Pre\u2011match discussions highlighted the potential debut of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who was expected to feature in the final game. However, the focus remained on giving playing time to a broad set of squad members. Varun Chakravarthy, who missed the first two matches with a side strain, remained unavailable, prompting a reshuffle of the bowling attack. Ravi Bishnoi, who stepped in for the second match, continued to feature alongside the regular pace trio of Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah and the emerging all\u2011rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.<\/p>\n<p>Afghanistan, despite a valiant effort in the earlier games, could not overcome the deficit. Their captain Ibrahim Zadran led from the front with the ball, while wicket\u2011keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz contributed a quick 15 before falling to Sharma\u2019s catch. The Afghan side also featured seasoned players such as Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan and Fazalhaq Farooqi, but the collective bowling and fielding effort fell short of containing India\u2019s explosive start.<\/p>\n<h2>Statistical highlights<\/h2>\n<p>Key statistics from the match include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>India\u2019s total: 221\/7 in 20 overs.<\/li>\n<li>Abhishek Sharma\u2019s innings: 108 runs off 30 balls, featuring 9 fours and 10 sixes.<\/li>\n<li>Afghanistan\u2019s total: 94 all out in 14.1 overs.<\/li>\n<li>Top wicket\u2011takers for India: Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah each claimed early wickets; Nitish Kumar Reddy took three wickets in a single over.<\/li>\n<li>Afghanistan\u2019s leading scorer: Noor ul Rahman, dismissed for 11.<\/li>\n<li>Player of the Match: Abhishek Sharma for his record\u2011breaking century.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The margin of 127 runs stands as one of the larger victories in a T20 International series decider, underscoring the dominance displayed by the Indian side throughout the series.<\/p>\n<p>With the series concluded, India will now turn its attention to upcoming fixtures, including preparations for the Asian Games, while Afghanistan will look to regroup and address the shortcomings exposed by a potent Indian batting lineup.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abhishek Sharma&#8217;s 30\u2011ball hundred helped India post 221\/7 and bowl out Afghanistan for 94, sealing a 3\u20110 series whitewash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[2167,1398,2168,216,2166],"class_list":["post-2053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-abhishek-sharma","tag-afghanistan","tag-arun-jaitley-stadium","tag-india","tag-t20i","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}