2nd T20I: Nitish Kumar Reddy shines with 3-fer versus Afghanistan
What's the story
Nitish Kumar Reddy's brilliant bowling performance helped India to restrict Afghanistan to a score of 159/8 in the second T20I of the three-match series in Delhi. The Indian bowlers were disciplined throughout, with Reddy leading the charge by taking three important wickets for just 24 runs in his three overs. Jasprit Bumrah also contributed with a maiden over, while Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel, and Ravi Bishnoi were the other wicket-takers.
Match dynamics
Reddy's brilliance in the middle overs
Afghanistan lost just one wicket in the powerplay, but their scoring rate was down.
Indian bowlers added to their misery during the middle overs, conceding just 64 runs from the seventh to the 14th over while taking five wickets.
Reddy bowled a couple of fine overs in this phase that saw him dismiss Gulbadin Naib (10) and Ibrahim Zadran (37).
Rashid Khan was his last victim as Afghanistan were restricted to 159/8.
Stats
Best T20I figures for the pacer
As mentioned, Reddy took three important wickets for just 24 runs in his three overs.
This spell took him to 25 wickets across 56 T20 matches at an economy rate of around 10.
The pacer had just three wickets across five T20Is before this game.
Reddy claimed his maiden three-fer in the format.