Sanju Samson returned to form in the IND vs AFG 2nd T20I on September 15 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. His place in the starting XI was uncertain after he failed in the series opener, but the team management decided to back him. The right-handed batter scored 57 runs off 22 balls, laced with 7 fours and 4 sixes, as India secured a 7-wicket win to seal the series, with one match left. Chasing 160, the Men in Blue reached the target in 14.5 overs.

Samson and Abhishek Sharma added 88 runs in 6.2 overs for the first wicket, with the latter posting 19-ball 39, laced with 4 sixes and 2 boundaries.

Skipper Shreyas Iyer didn’t do much with the bat and scored just 11 runs off 11 balls. Ishan Kishan (38 off 23) and Tilak Varma (15 off 14) remained unbeaten.

Afghanistan’s score was not enough to test India on a pitch that becomes batting-friendly in the second innings. For the host board, Rashid Khan was the most successful bowler, taking three wickets.

Earlier, none of the Afghanistan batters smashed a fifty, with several players wasting good starts.

Captain Ibrahim Zadran (37), Rashid (28 off 16), Darwish Rasooli (26 off 15) and Mohammad Nabi (20 off 14) were in the middle for a long time but didn’t go on to play impactful knocks.

Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was ordinary in the series opener, claimed three scalps for 24 runs from his 3 overs. Arshdeep Singh dismissed two batters while Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi got rid of a batter each.