Shivam Dube smashes his career-best T20I score: Key stats
India beat Afghanistan in the 1st T20I at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali. The hosts chased down 159, with Shivam Dube playing a match-winning knock. He smashed a 40-ball 60* as India won by six wickets. Dube, who made a comeback to the T20I setup, also took a wicket in the first innings. Here are the key stats.
A solid knock from Dube
As mentioned, Dube smashed an unbeaten 60 off 40 balls, a knock laced with 5 fours and 2 sixes. The left-handed batter helped India recover from 28/2, sharing stands with Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma, and lastly Rinku Singh. Dube slammed his second half-century in T20I cricket. His only other T20I half-century (54) came in 2019, the year wherein he made his debut.
An economical spell from Dube
In the first innings, Dube came in as a third-change bowler. The medium-pacer, who has been bowling in the domestic circuit of late, dismissed Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran in Mohali. The former conceded just nine runs in two overs.
Dube goes past 200 T20I runs
Dube made his T20I debut in November 2019 against Bangladesh. He has been in and out of the T20I side, with Hardik Pandya being the first-choice all-rounder. As of now, Dube has scored 212 runs from 12 T20I innings at an average of 35.33. He strikes at 139.47 in the format. Dube also has seven wickets to his name.
A look at the match summary
Afghanistan had a steady start after India invited them to bat. Although openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Zadran added 50 runs, they were at bay. Afghanistan were down to 57/3 before Nabi and Omarzai added 68 runs. Some death-over exploits powered the Afghans to 158/5. India lost Rohit Sharma early, but contributions from Shubman Gill, Tilak, Dube, Jitesh, and Rinku got India home.
