Terrific hitting and a fine bowling effort powered India to thrash Afghanistan by 6 wickets in the second T20I at Holkar Stadium. Men in Blue sealed the three-match series 2-0 with a dominating victory on Sunday night. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube played blistering knocks of 68 and 63*, helping India to chase 173 in just 15.4 overs. Earlier, Arshdeep Singh throttled Afghanistan with a three-wicket haul. India will eye for the whitewash while Afghanistan will look to finish on a positive note in the third and final T20I which will be played on January 17, Wednesday.

Rohit Sharma’s decision to bowl first was fruitful for India as Ravi Bishnoi struck early to dismiss the hard-hitter Rahmanullah Gurbaz (14). Axar Patel quickly cleaned up Afghan’s captain Ibrahim Zadran for 8. In the next over, Shivam Dube bowled out Azmatullah Omarzai (2) to the visitors under huge pressure. Although wickets kept falling, Gulbadin Naib stood tall and played elegant shots to find the boundary ropes.

Experienced player Mohammad Nabi failed to make an impact and departed for 14. Najibullah Zadran and Karim Janat chipped in with 23 and 20 respectively. Axar got the crucial wicket of Omarzai who batted well to score 57 runs from 35 balls. Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s cameo of 21 runs guided Afghanistan to reach a competitive 172. Bishnoi and Axar picked up two wickets each.

In reply, Fazalhaq Farooqi stunned the home crowd by cleaning up Rohit for a golden duck. But Jaiswal batted in an aggressive mode and hit boundaries frequently. The young opener alongside Virat Kohli (29) added 57 runs for the second wicket. Jaiswal kept India on the top, hitting his 4th T20I half-century in just 27 deliveries. Dube also played an attacking innings and hit boundaries all over the park. A 92-run partnership between Jaiswal and Dube in just 42 balls helped India to cross the line comfortably.