INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube smashed half-centuries as India thrashed Afghanistan by six wickets in the second Twenty20
international in Indore on Sunday to clinch the three-match series.Jaiswal, who hit 68 off 34 balls, returned to the team along with star
batsman Virat Kohli after the two missed the opening win.Jaiswal put on key partnerships including a 92-run stand with left-handed partner
Dube, who hit an unbeaten 63, as India chased down their victory target with 26 balls to spare and take an unbeatable 2-0 lead, AFP
reported.Top-ranked India have been unbeaten at home for 15 consecutive T20 series.Their bowlers set up victory with left-arm spinner Axar
Patel leading the charge with figures of 2-17 to help dismiss Afghanistan for 172 despite Gulbadin Naib&s 57.&The last two games, we&ve
ticked a lot of boxes,& India skipper Rohit Sharma said after the win.Rohit praised Jaiswal and Dube.&They&ve had a great couple of years
Jaiswal has played Test cricket now and even T20
He has shown what he is capable of
He has the talent and has a great range of shots.&Dube is a big guy, very powerful and can take on the spinners
That is his role and he has come out and played two crucial innings for us.&Kohli, who played his first T20 for India since November 2022,
made 29 in a partnership of 57 with Jaiswal after Rohit fell for a second successive duck.Jaiswal took apart the opposition bowling after
left-arm quick Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled Rohit and fellow fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq took down Kohli.Jaiswal reached his fourth T20 half-ton
for India and Dube, who starred in the team&s opening win, joined the charge to hit his second successive fifty.Jaiswal hit five fours and
six sixes before he fell to Karim Janat who struck twice in an over but Dube stood firm to steer the team home and gi past his previous T20
best of 60 not out.Earlier Naib, a top-order batsman, took on the Indian bowling attack in his 35-ball knock laced with five fours and four
sixes.He made his fourth T20 half-century for Afghanistan but fell when Patel had him caught at short mid-wicket by Rohit.Wickets kept
tumbling, but Najibullah Zadran (23 off 21 balls), Janat (10-ball 20) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (21 off nine) boosted the Afghanistan
total.&Sometimes we play well in the powerplay, sometimes in the middle (overs), and sometimes in the death overs,& skipper Ibrahim Zadran
said.&We are going for the T20 World Cup, so we don&t want to repeat these.&The last over from left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh, who ended with
three wickets, brought four wickets including two run outs as Afghanistan were bowled out on the final ball.Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi took
two wickets.The final match is on Wednesday in Bengaluru.The post India beat Afghanistan in second T20 to clinch series first appeared on
