In what was a cold and breezy first innings in Mohali which saw Team India restrict Afghanistan to 158/5 courtesy of a good bowling attack featuring Mukesh Kumar, Axar Patel and Shivam Dube.
Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar both secured two wickets each, contributing to India limiting Afghanistan to a an average total in their 20 overs during the 1st T20I in Mohali.
Deciding to bowl first, Team India bowlers started off on the wrong foot and weren’t able to pick up a single wicket in the powerplay. The first breakthrough for the Men in Blue was through Axar Patel when opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz got sent back to the pavilion in the 8th over with Afghanistan on 50 runs.
India need 159 to win the 1st T20i against Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/Ydk9tq7CdJ
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 11, 2024
A decent bowling spell by both Mukesh Kumar and Axar Patel saw the Afghanistan team struggle for momentum as the team tumbled down to 125/4 in 17.1 overs.
Mohammad Nabi top scored for the side with a resilient 42 runs on the night which saw Afghanistan post a respectable total on the board.