Debutants Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar claimed three wickets each, while Shubman Gill slammed a fluent 66-ball 84 not out as India eased past Afghanistan in the rain-reduced opening ODI in Dharamsala, by seven wickets.

Scheduled to begin at 1.30pm local time, the match was delayed by more than four hours due to persistent drizzle and reduced to 25 overs a side. Once the weather cleared, Rahmanullah Gurbaz dazzled with a sublime 51-ball 102, the fastest century by an Afghanistan batter and his ninth in ODIs. But the rest of the batters failed to create much impact as Afghanistan folded for 194 in 24.5 overs. Arshdeep Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy also picked up two wickets apiece.

The Indian batters did not break much of a sweat in the 195 chase. Rohit Sharma was run out for 16 but Gill held firm, recording his 18th ODI half-century, while also becoming the second-fastest batter to breach the 3000-run mark in ODIs. Ishan Kishan scored 34 off 22 while KL Rahul ended with an unbeaten 39 off 19 and hit the winning runs as India took 22.5 overs to close the chase and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

The first innings revolved around Gurbaz. He had his moments – he should have been lbw on 14, but India failed to review, and also run out on 30 – but kept the Afghanistan innings ticking after India had the visitors in early trouble. Gurbaz waltzed down the track first ball of the shortened innings and missed, and then crashed Arshdeep for four and six to collect 11 off the first over.

Gurnoor cranked up the pace right away and was rewarded with just his fifth ball when Ibrahim Zadran spooned a leading edge to mid-off. Arshdeep then pinned Sediqullah Atal in front of the stumps before taking out Rahmat Shah who mistimed over square leg, with Dubey taking a smart catch running back.

At 26 for 3 inside five overs, Afghanistan were in danger of collapsing in a heap but Gurbaz arrested the slide. He dominated the 116-run fourth-wicket stand in 11 overs, scoring 82 in the partnerships with Hashmatullah Shahidi. He struck Prasidh Krishna for two fours in the seventh over and then took on Dubey, smashing him for a four and six before reaching his fifty off 25 balls by depositing him over deep midwicket.

A flicked-scoop off Prasidh helped Gurbaz race through the 60s before he took a special liking to Washington Sundar, thumping him for a four and two sixes in the 12th over. Shahidi, at the other end, did his job collecting the odd boundary and rotating the strike but the Afghanistan innings was all about Gurbaz. He reached 94 with a supreme six over long-off and got his century off 48 balls with a brace to deep midwicket in the 15th over. Going at 9.33 an over after 15, Afghanistan were looking at a score in excess of 220 but India came back brilliantly.

Reddy flattened Gurbaz’s middle stump in the 16th over, while Dubey claimed his maiden international wicket by nipping out Shahidi in the next. Azmatullah Omarzai hit Dubey for two sixes, but perished to the same bowler soon after. Gill took a one-handed stunner at slip, leaping to his left and grabbing a thick outside edge off AM Ghazanfar’s blade as Afghanistan slipped to 182 for 8 after 22 overs. Rashid Khan hit two fours before Gurnoor ended the Afghanistan innings.

India were 7 for 0 without a legal ball bowled as Omarzai began the innings with five wides, a no-ball and another wide. He then pinned Rohit on the right glove with a bouncer in a first over full of drama. Rohit needed the physio’s attention multiple times but he soon found his groove, punching debutant Ziaur Rahman past backward point and then pulling Omarzai for a six and four.

Gill opened his account with a sublime back-foot cover drive and then square drove Ghazanfar as India reached 40 for 0 after six overs. Afghanistan found a ray of hope when a misunderstanding between Rohit and Gill resulted in a run-out. Rohit ticked Ghazanfar to the left of midwicket and set off, with Gill, who found the bowler in his way, having his glove up. Rohit had, meanwhile, run halfway and failed to make it back despite a dive.

Kishan, playing his first ODI since October 2023, quickly found his groove. He added 70 off 43 balls with Gill to keep the India innings going. The two collected boundaries in almost every over, ensuring the required rate was always in check. They took on Mohammad Nabi with Kishan first hitting him for a four and six in the tenth over before Gill smoked him for a six and two fours in the 12th to bring up a 37-ball fifty.

Kishan was undone by a Rashid googly as he charged down the track and lost his off stump after missing the line. Shreyas Iyer looked rusty during his 12 off 15 balls but Rahul immediately injected momentum into the chase. He started with a ramp over deep third and with India needing 33 off 24, smashed Ziaur for 6, 4, 4 and then ended the 22nd over with an effortless six over deep extra cover.

Rahul and Gill added an unbroken 53 off 32 balls for the fourth wicket with Rahul hitting the winning runs off Mohammad Saleem. For Afghanistan, only Rashid and Ziaur managed a wicket each.

SCORES:

India 195 for 3 in 22.5 overs (Shubman Gill 84*, KL Rahul 39*, Ishan Kishan 34;  Rashid Khan 1-37) beat Afghanistan 194 in 24.5 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 102, Hashmatullah Shahidi 27, Azmatullah Omarzai 26; Gurnoor Brar 3-27, Harsh Dubey 3-47, Arshdeep Singh 2-27, Nitish Kumar Reddy 2-31) by seven wickets

[Cricinfo]

Australia may have come into this Women’s T20 World Cup with doubts over their invincibility after entering a tournament without a title for the first time since 2017, but a strong all-round show in their opening match against South Africa all but quelled those theories.

A quickfire innings from Phoebe Litchfield aided by cameos from Georgia Wareham and Annabel Sutherland propelled Australia to 172 for 8, before their four-pronged spin attack squeezed South Africa to register a net-run-rate-boosting 65-run win. South Africa were bowled out for 107, their second lowest total in a completed T20I innings against Australia, to receive a jolting start to a campaign they entered as one of the favourites.

South Africa’s perilous new-ball pair, Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail, was reunited with the latter’s retirement reversal. They gave the perfect start, dismissing Australia’s openers inside four overs and keeping the batters in check with the subtle movement they generated. But Litchfield isn’t one to take an over-cautious approach. She switched gears by using her feet to hit Kapp for successive fours in the penultimate over of the powerplay. In the next, she hit Ismail for a sequence of 4, 4, 6 to help Australia finish the powerplay on 52 for 2.

Litchfield missed Australia’s last warm-up game because of a quadricep issue. In her first proper outing in the tournament, she raced to a 23-ball fifty. It took a change-up from Ayabonga Khaka to get rid of her for 50 off 24. The others, including extras, had contributed 11 off 17 at that stage.

Despite walking in in the fourth over, Ellyse Perry had faced only four balls by the time Litchfield was dismissed in the seventh. She could afford to take her time because of how Wareham got into her act quickly. She managed to find the boundary in each of her next two overs before both Perry and Wareham took three fours off Khaka’s second over, the 12th of the innings.

They continued to raise the pace of Australia’s scoring and added 58 off 38 for the fifth wicket. Their partnership only ended when Laura Wolvaardt grabbed at screamer at extra cover to end Wareham’s stay for 32 off 22. Two overs later, Perry fell for a 26-ball 36. Twice in the innings Australia lost wickets in quick succession; the phase between those gave them a base to put up a score that would eventually prove enough.

With two right-handers in the middle after Litchfield’s fall, South Africa introduced left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba and she struck with her second ball. Ashleigh Gardner looked to take her down but miscued her inside out shot straight to extra cover. She bowled three overs in the middle phase and also accounted for the set Perry’s wicket in the 16th over.

This performance of Mlaba’s showed a glimpse of why she has been so successful in T20Is for a while now – her 41 wickets since the start of 2024 are the most for South Africa. However, her effort ended up in a losing cause.

In a departure from their tactics from the warm-up fixtures, Sophie Molineux took the new ball against South Africa, and the move paid off early. Sune Luus moved back to pull a length ball across the line but it skidded on to trap the South Africa opener lbw in the first over. Kim Garth was at her accurate best from the other end, castling Annerie Dercksen who batted one-drop.

But Molineux had seen enough to not feed South Africa the pace that their batters so enjoy. She kept rotating her bowlers and the fast bowlers bowled only four overs. Alana King, perhaps brought in because of her superior ODI record against South Africa, almost struck in her first over. Nadine de Klerk, batting at No. 4, slog swept her straight to deep midwicket but Gardner parried it over for a six.

Fellow legspinner Wareham eventually dismissed de Klerk and picked up two more towards the end. Molineux also returned in the 14th over to dismiss Wolvaardt with South Africa’s asking rate mounting. Australia’s spinners picked up 8 for 72 in 12.4 overs. A satisfying win to send a timely reminder to the other teams, after being challenged at various points in the game.

SCORES:

Australia Women 172 for 8 in 20 overs (Phoebe Litchfield 50, Ellyse Perry 36, Georgia Wareham 32, Annabelle Sutherland 21, Mlaba 2-22, Nicola Carey 13*; Marizanne Kapp 1-29, Shabnim Ismail 1-33, Ayabonga Khaka 2-33,  Nonkululeko Mlaba 2-22, Nadine de Klerk 2-35) beat South Africa Women  107 in 16.4 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 44, Nadine de Klerk 25, Matizanne Kapp 12; Sophie Molineux 2-17, Kim Garth 1-13, Alana King 2-26, Georgia Wareham 3-13, Ashleigh Gardner 1-16 ) by 65 runs

[Cricinfo]