New Delhi, Sept 2026 : India completed a comprehensive 3-0 T20I series sweep over Afghanistan after Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ravi Bishnoi claimed three wickets each to bowl out the visitors for 94 in 14.1 overs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday.
Chasing a daunting target of 222, Afghanistan never recovered after losing four wickets inside the powerplay. Reddy returned figures of 3/25, while leg-spinner Bishnoi claimed 3/26 as India wrapped up a 127-run victory.
India’s imposing total of 221/7 was built around a spectacular innings from Abhishek Sharma, who smashed 108 off just 34 balls. The left-handed opener reached his century in only 30 deliveries, setting a new record for the fastest T20I hundred by a batter from a Test-playing nation. He also became the fastest Indian men’s batter to score a century in T20Is, surpassing Rohit Sharma’s previous 35-ball effort from 2017.
Afghanistan began the chase positively, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz finally getting off the mark in the series. He backed away to steer a short-of-length delivery from Reddy behind point for four before finding another boundary through the gap between cover and point.
Captain Ibrahim Zadran then struck a short delivery over square leg for six, helping Afghanistan collect 15 runs from the opening over. Gurbaz and Zadran added three more boundaries before India began to dismantle the chase.
Axar Patel provided the first breakthrough with his opening delivery. Gurbaz attempted a sweep after backing away but missed completely, leaving his stumps exposed.
Three balls later, Sediqullah Atal top-edged a slog sweep, with Abhishek Sharma running in from deep midwicket to complete the catch.
India continued to tighten the screws. Jasprit Bumrah produced a sharp yorker at around 140 kmph to bowl Darwish Rasooli, while Yash Thakur dismissed Zadran for 25 after he was caught at deep square leg.
With Afghanistan four wickets down during the powerplay, the visitors’ hopes of chasing the huge target had effectively disappeared.
Debutant Noor ul Rahman provided some resistance after being dropped by Tilak Varma at long-off. He made 11 from 15 balls before Bishnoi deceived him into miscuing a shot into the deep.
Reddy then returned to complete his second successive three-wicket haul in the series. Mohammad Nabi attempted to swing across the line against a length delivery, but the ball stayed low, skidded underneath the inside edge and crashed into the stumps.
Azmatullah Omarzai also departed after attempting to attack a leg-cutter on a good length, skewing the ball off the outside half of the bat to sweeper cover.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman was bowled for a duck after failing to bring his bat down in time.
Bishnoi completed India’s emphatic victory by dismissing Rashid Khan, before having Abdullah Omarzai caught in the deep.
Afghanistan were bowled out for just 94 in 14.1 overs, giving India a commanding 127-run victory and a clean sweep in the three-match series.
Brief Scores: India 221/7 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 108, Sanju Samson 50; Azmatullah Omarzai 2/27, Abdullah Ahmadzai 1/38) beat Afghanistan 94 all out in 14.1 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 25, Azmatullah Omarzai 17; Nitish Kumar Reddy 3/25, Ravi Bishnoi 3/26) by 127 runs.
