Abhishek Sharma's 82 off 32 gives India a 1-0 T20 lead

India beat Afghanistan by seven wickets in the first T20 international at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on 13 September, chasing 157 with 38 balls to spare. Abhishek Sharma hit 82 off 32. Ishan Kishan made 42 off 33. Jasprit Bumrah, back after a knee injury, removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck in the first over. Arshdeep Singh finished with 3 for 19. The second match of the three-game series is on 15 September in Delhi.

Afghanistan were 41 for 4 inside the powerplay and 43 for 5 shortly after. Azmatullah Omarzai's unbeaten 64 off 44, with Mohammad Nabi's 33 in an 83-run stand, dragged the total to 156 for 8. That is a score India have hunted down at home for years. They hunted this one in 13.4 overs.

Sanju Samson fell in the third over for 10. Sharma then took the innings away from the bowling changes. Nabi removed Sharma and Kishan late. Shreyas Iyer, unbeaten on 8 off 5, and Tilak Varma, unbeaten on 3 off 4, walked the rest. Sharma was named player of the match.

Bumrah's first over and Arshdeep's last

Bumrah's return was the selection story. The delivery that dismissed Gurbaz, kicking from a length to the cordon, was the cricket story. India had come home from a winless T20 trip to Ireland and England two months earlier. A full-strength attack at the Arun Jaitley Stadium is a different proposition from a mid-tour XI in Dublin. Varun Chakravarthy also returned from injury and went for 16 from his overs with a wicket. Axar Patel took a wicket. The names on the team sheet did what the names suggested.

Arshdeep's 3 for 19 at the death stopped Omarzai from turning 156 into something that asked questions in the nineteenth over. Nabi's 2 for 28 were the only Afghan wickets in the chase. The rest of the attack watched Sharma's 82 happen in the time a powerplay usually takes.

Omarzai's innings deserves the line it will not get in most Indian reports. He walked in at a wreck and left with an unbeaten 64. Without that knock the chase is a footnote. With it, the match at least had a middle.

A series, not a final

Tuesday's game is the live one. A 1-0 lead in a three-match series is a start. Afghanistan have beaten this India side on nights when the powerplay does not collapse and when Sharma does not make 82 off 32. Gurbaz will bat again. So will Ibrahim Zadran, out for 11 on Sunday.

The week already held an eighth Women's Asia Cup and a refusal to collect the trophy in Dubai. The men's T20 side, playing at home, offered a simpler evening: Bumrah in the first over, Sharma in the sixth, the handshake before the 14th. That is the product India sell when the XI is intact. The test is whether Tuesday looks the same once Afghanistan adjust to the length that dismissed Gurbaz.

Brief scores, because the card is the record. Afghanistan 156 for 8 in 20 overs, Omarzai 64 not out, Nabi 33, Arshdeep 3 for 19. India 157 for 3 in 13.4 overs, Sharma 82, Kishan 42, Nabi 2 for 28. Seven wickets, 38 balls left, series 1-0.