India 221 for 7 (Abhishek 108, Samson 50, Omarzai 2-27) beat Afghanistan 94 (Zadran 25, Reddy 3-25, Bishnoi 3-26) by 127 runs
Having languished in the 150s in the first two matches batting first, Afghanistan managed just 94 this time, the wheels coming off under the pressure of the high asking rate and the quality of India’s bowling.
Abhishek attacks
One sighter is all it took before Abhishek hurtled off the mark with an extra-cover drive in the air off a half volley from Fazalhaq Farooqi. The innings had all the hallmarks of an Abhishek classic: a high grip giving him a seemingly long wingspan and languid bat swing, sweet hitting either side of the wicket off seam, and back-foot sixes down the ground off spin. The first time he charged a seamer was at the end of the second over, lofting Azmatullah Omarzai over cover for his second six. Farooqi overpitched again in the third over, and paid the price.
The worst fate, though, was reserved for offspinner Mohammad Nabi, introduced in the fifth over. Samson had already taken him down the ground for two sixes off the back foot, and Abhishek matched him two of his own, bringing up his fifty in 16 balls.
Samson takes over
From the seventh over to Abhishek’s dismissal in the tenth over, Samson only scored singles, but the first ball he faced after his opening partner’s departure was a six. He got to his fifty with two fours and four sixes; at 164 for 2 in 13 overs, other records looked under threat.
Rashid, reverse swing intervene
The initial part of the slowdown was all Rashid. He got Abhishek with a wrong’un, ran the promoted Tilak Varma out off his own bowling, and then took a superb catch at long-off to send Samson back. While Rashid’s last over went for 17 runs, the seam bowlers largely nailed their yorkers with the reversing ball in the last five overs, during which they conceded just 37 runs.
A long procession
In the fourth over, he dismissed Gurbaz and Sediqullah Atal as both of them played him for turn. He would go on to have a catch dropped and a stumping missed, making it four lives off his bowling in the series, but Axar ended with an impressive series analysis of 64 runs in 11 overs for four wickets.
Bumrah, who chose not to rest, bowled serious wheels and bowled Darwish Rasooli with a 143kph yorker in the fifth over. When Zadran flicked a leg-stump half volley straight to the fielder to give Thakur his first wicket, the end was nigh.
Reddy, though, made it extra dramatic with three wickets in one over, cleaning up Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and getting Omarzai caught in the deep with a legcutter. He came back to finish his allotment, but Reddy had to live with six wickets for the series, more than any other bowler.
Sidharth Monga is a senior writer at Cricinfo
