Samson Claims New Milestone, Abhishek Races To 16-Ball Fifty Against Afghanistan In 3rd T20I

Sanju Samson brought up a personal milestone and Abhishek Sharma produced a blistering assault as India put on a batting exhibition against Afghanistan in the third T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday.

Samson reached 9,000 runs in T20 cricket in dramatic fashion during the fourth over, bowled by Mohammad Nabi. Backing away to a fullish delivery, he drilled it toward mid-off, where captain Ibrahim Zadran dived to his right but couldn't hold on.

The resulting single took Samson to the landmark, and he wasn't done there — he followed it up with back-to-back sixes off Nabi, one launched over long-on and another thumped over his head after transferring his weight into a short ball.

At the other end, Abhishek Sharma was even more destructive. The left-hander raced to fifty off just 16 balls, reaching the milestone with the third six of Nabi's over, blasted over long-on before he raised his bat to a roaring crowd.

His innings featured a flurry of boundaries against Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, including three sixes in a single over off Farooqi alone.

By the end of the fifth over, India had raced to 85 without loss, with Abhishek Sharma blazing away on 62 off just 18 balls and Sanju Samson accelerating to 23 off 12.

Afghanistan's bowlers, including head coach Richard Pybus's much-discussed young talent pool, found little answer as India's openers took the attack apart from the outset — even the introduction of Rashid Khan brought no respite, with Sharma taking him for two fours and a six in the same over that saw the Sharma-Samson stand flourish further.