India 402 (Gill 154, Kishan 125, Kharote 4-76, Rashid 3-48) vs Afghanistan
Shubman Gill recorded his ninth ODI century, and Ishan Kishan scored his second as India piled up 402 against Afghanistan in the second ODI. The two tore into the Afghanistan bowling unit in scorching Lucknow, adding 224 runs off 141 balls for the third wicket with Gill amassing 154 off 110 balls and Kishan 125 off 79. Despite the onslaught, Afghanistan did make a comeback, picking up 7 for 62 in the last ten overs to restrict India when at one point 450 and above was on the cards.
Both India and Afghanistan made three changes each, which included handing a debut to Prince Yadav and Darwish Rasooli, respectively. Afghanistan sent India in and had early success with Yashasvi Jaiswal falling in the second over, cutting Mohammad Saleem to backward point for his maiden ODI wicket.
Gill, who was coming into this game on the back of a sublime 84 not out, was at his fluent best. He started his innings with a classy cover drive off AM Ghazanfar before Rohit Sharma treated the Lucknow faithful to back-to-back front-foot pulls. Gill continued threading the offside gaps with his on-the-rise drives as India raced past fifty in the seventh over.
Left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote started his spell with a near-waist-high full toss down leg that was spanked over deep fine leg by Gill and Afghanistan needed some Rashid Khan mystery to pull things back. He foxed Rohit with a skiddy googly, which the batter failed to pick and was bowled for 48 as an 87-run stand ended. But it only summoned the start of a storm.
Kishan and Gill began sedately, with the latter reaching his fifty off 38 balls with a six off Kharote over wide long-on. Saleem was taken for two fours in three balls by Gill and then hit into the second tier by Kishan, with India going at just under seven an over after 22.
Kishan reached his half-century off 52 balls, his first since September 2023, and it was about this time that he went ballistic. He slapped Ghazanfar down the ground, went 4, 6, 0 and 4 against Hashmatullah Shahidi's offspin before smashing Rashid for two sixes and a four. Gill, watching the carnage unfold, calmly reached his century off just 77 balls by working Bilal Sami through square leg.
In the same over, Kishan went 4, 4, 4 to reach his second ODI ton and his first since the 210 he hit against Bangladesh in December 2022. Kishan had taken 52 balls for his first fifty and just 19 for his second. Meanwhile, Gill also upped his strike-rate by twice going through extra cover against Saleem.
India were 193 for 2 after 28 overs; in the next eight, they ransacked 114 runs with the run rate zooming past the 8.50 mark. Kishan hit two one-handed sixes against Kharote but fell doing it a third time, mistiming to deep midwicket.
The Lucknow heat had begun taking its toll on the players. Rashid limped off the field, Gill was attended to by the physio and so were a few Afghanistan fielders.
While Gill still managed to find a few boundaries and in the process, reached his 150 off 109 balls, Shreyas Iyer struggled to keep up. Kharote then struck twice in two balls, first sending back Gill, whose reverse sweep only went as far as deep point while KL Rahul slogged him to long-on for a golden duck.
Kharote then picked up his fourth wicket when Shreyas mistimed him to long-on. The boundaries dried up in the death and India only managed to get past 400 in the final over. The innings ended with Prince Yadav run out for 5, but a 403-run target still presents a daunting task for Afghanistan. Kharote picked up 4 for 76, while Rashid returned three wickets.
