Gurbaz hundred goes in vain as Gill seals India’s seven-wicket win in Dharamsala
Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s blistering 102 was not enough as Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 84 steered India to a seven-wicket win in a rain-shortened first ODI at Dharamsala.
Jun 14, 2026
Rahmanullah Gurbaz produced one of the great one-day hundreds and still ended up on the losing side. His 102 off 51 balls lit up a rain-trimmed first ODI in Dharamsala on Saturday, but Shubman Gill answered with an unbeaten 84 to carry India to a seven-wicket win and a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Persistent rain had already cut the contest to 25 overs a side by the time Gill won the toss and put Afghanistan in. What followed was a reminder of why Gurbaz is among the most destructive openers in the white-ball game.
Gurbaz keeps Afghanistan afloat on his own
With the innings squeezed into 25 overs, Afghanistan needed a fast start and Gurbaz gave them one that bordered on violent. He reached three figures off just 51 deliveries, the quickest ODI century by an Afghanistan batter, and decorated it with eight fours and eight sixes. For a while it looked as though he might drag his side towards 220 on his own.
The problem was that nobody stayed with him. Once Gurbaz fell for 102, the rest of the order had little answer to India’s seam and spin, and Afghanistan were bowled out for 194 with a ball of their allotted overs still unused. India’s two debutants did the damage. Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey picked up three wickets apiece, both running through the middle and lower order to leave the tourists well short of the total their start had promised.
Gill takes the chase out of Afghanistan’s reach
A target of 195 in 25 overs asked India to keep up with the rate from the first ball, and Gill made sure they never fell behind it. The captain batted with the calm of someone who had already done the maths. He picked off the gaps and punished anything loose, and the required rate never got away from him.
He finished on 84 not out from 66 balls, and by the time KL Rahul joined him for the closing stretch the result was barely in doubt. Rahul turned the final overs into a formality with a brisk 39 not out off 19 deliveries, and India knocked off the runs in 22.5 overs to win with 13 balls to spare.
India go one up with two to play
The margin flattered India a little given how dangerous Gurbaz had looked, but the depth on show told its own story. Two uncapped bowlers shared six wickets, the captain anchored the chase, and a rain-shortened game that could have been a coin toss instead turned into a comfortable evening.
Afghanistan will take heart from Gurbaz’s form and the knowledge that a few more runs through the middle order would have made this a much tighter contest. India, though, move to the second ODI a win to the good and with their batting looking exactly as settled as they would have hoped.