India Beat Afghanistan By 7 Wickets, Gill And KL Rahul Star In Dharamshala

Dharamshala: India won the first ODI against Afghanistan at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala on Friday. The win came in just 22.5 overs. India chased down 195 with seven wickets in hand and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Who bat first?

Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat. It was Rahmanullah Gurbaz who kept them in the game. He came out swinging and never stopped. 102 runs off 51 balls. It was a brutal knock. Without him Afghanistan would have been in serious trouble much earlier. The rest of the batting had no answer to India's bowlers. Ibrahim Zadran went for one. Rahmat Shah scored three. Hashmatullah Shahidi made 27. Azmatullah Omarzai got 26. Everyone else came and went quickly. Afghanistan finished on 194.

Debutants shine with the ball?

Two debutants made their mark. Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey both picked up three wickets each on their first day in international cricket. Arshdeep Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy chipped in with two wickets apiece. India were clinical and never let Afghanistan build any real partnerships after Gurbaz fell.

How Rohit and Gill played?

India's chase started on a shaky note. Rohit Sharma was back in the hut for 16 off 16 balls. But Shubman Gill was in no mood to let that hurt India. He batted through the innings without getting out. 84 runs off 66 balls. Calm, controlled and decisive. Ishan Kishan came in and added 34 off 22 balls to keep the tempo high. Shreyas Iyer made 12 before departing. Then KL Rahul walked in and ended the contest. 39 runs off 19 balls. Game over. Ziaur Rahman and Rashid Khan took one wicket each but Afghanistan never looked like winning once Gill got going.

ODI's next stop?

The second ODI moves to the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. India will go in looking to seal the series. Afghanistan need a win just to stay alive in the contest.