Lucknow: Impressive centuries from Ishan Kishan and skipper Shubman Gill led India to a resounding 170-run win over Afghanistan in the second ODI of the three-match domestic series at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
The crushing victory helped India take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series against Afghanistan, the last of which is scheduled to be played in Chennai on Saturday.
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi’s decision to bowl first backfired as the home side were all out for 402 in 49.5 overs, courtesy of a formidable third-wicket partnership between Gill and Kishan, who scored a century.
However, India got off to a mixed start to their innings when left-arm opener Yashashvi Jaiswal (four) fell victim to Mohammad Saleem, with just nine runs in the second over.
After stumbling early, Gill joined the experienced Rohit Sharma in the middle and the duo put together a brisk 87-run partnership for the second wicket to stabilize India’s innings, which saw opener Rashid Khan dismissed on the first delivery of the 14th over.
Rohit was the notable run scorer for the hosts with a 39-ball 48 with 6 fours and 2 sixes.
Gill then joined Kishan and the duo dominated the Afghanistan bowling to put on 224 for the third wicket, during which both got their respective centuries.
Nangeyalia ended the marathon partnership by dismissing Kishan in the 37th over after scoring 125 runs off 79 balls with 14 fours and 7 sixes.
Gill then shared 40 runs with Shreyas Iyer for the fourth wicket. He also fell victim to carrot.
The Indian skipper returned after top-scoring with 154 off 110 balls with 22 fours and 2 sixes, which earned him the man of the match award.
Despite Shreyas Iyer’s 26 and Washington Sundar’s 19, his dismissal of six wickets for 42 off 44 balls precipitated the collapse.
For Afghanistan, Garrot led the way with four wickets but came at a price as he conceded 76 runs in his 10 overs, followed by Rashid’s three wickets, with Saleem and AM Ghazanfar claiming a scalp each.
Chasing a tough target of 403, the tourists were bundled out for 232 in 44.3 overs despite a brave half-century from Rahmat Shah.
The middle-order struggled for Afghanistan, scoring a top-scoring 79 off 89 balls with 8 fours.
Apart from him, top-order batsmen Sedikullah Atal (42) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (41) were the only notable scorers for Atalans.
Arshdeep Singh and Kurnoor Barr led India’s bowling with three wickets each, followed by Prince Yadav with two and Sundar with one.