New Delhi, Sept 2026 : India produced another dominant performance at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, defeating Afghanistan by seven wickets in the second T20I on Tuesday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Chasing a target of 160 after Afghanistan posted 159/8, India raced to 163/3 in just 14.5 overs. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma set up the chase with a blistering opening partnership before Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma completed the job with plenty of time to spare.
Samson delivered the most explosive innings of the chase, smashing 57 off just 22 balls. His aggressive knock included seven fours and four sixes. After taking some time to settle during the opening overs, Samson shifted gears rapidly and repeatedly found the boundary against Afghanistan’s spinners.
Abhishek was equally destructive, scoring 39 from 19 deliveries with two fours and four sixes. The opening pair brought up their 50-run partnership in only 28 balls and powered India to 82 without loss at the end of the six-over powerplay. Interestingly, India had also scored 82 in the powerplay during the opening T20I.
Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan was introduced in the seventh over and immediately gave his team a breakthrough. He ended the 93-run opening stand by dismissing Abhishek, who miscued an attempted big shot to Sediqullah Atal at mid-wicket.
Rashid struck again four deliveries later to remove Samson. The Indian opener attempted to loft the ball towards long-off, where Mohammad Nabi completed the catch. However, India had already reached 99/2 after seven overs and remained firmly in control.
Ishan Kishan continued the momentum and struck Noor Ahmad for a six. Shreyas Iyer also showed attacking intent, hitting Rashid for a six over extra cover. But the Afghanistan captain claimed his third wicket soon after, with Iyer edging a quicker delivery to Ibrahim Zadran at slip.
With India requiring only 35 runs, Tilak Varma joined Kishan at the crease and the pair calmly guided the chase towards completion. Kishan then launched Mujeeb Ur Rahman for four, six and four in the 14th over, leaving India needing just one run.
Tilak took a single off Rashid before Kishan finished the match in style, cutting the next delivery through the off-side for a boundary.
Earlier, Afghanistan struggled to build momentum after Jasprit Bumrah opened with a maiden. Arshdeep Singh then dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for his second successive duck of the series.
Ibrahim Zadran and Sediqullah Atal attempted to rebuild before Nitish Kumar Reddy dismissed Zadran for 37. Reddy went on to claim three wickets for 24 runs, while Arshdeep took two.
Rashid Khan’s 28 off 16 balls and Mohammad Nabi’s 20 provided Afghanistan with some late momentum, but India’s bowlers prevented them from posting a bigger total. Bumrah and Reddy struck during the final two overs before Noor Ahmad hit a six from the last delivery to take Afghanistan to 159/8.
The result gave India a commanding 2-0 series lead, with the third and final T20I scheduled for Thursday.
Brief Scores:
Afghanistan: 159/8 in 20 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 37, Rashid Khan 28; Nitish Kumar Reddy 3/18, Arshdeep Singh 2/35) lost to India: 163/3 in 14.5 overs (Sanju Samson 57, Abhishek Sharma 39, Ishan Kishan 38*; Rashid Khan 3/36) by seven wickets.
