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Indian cricket team punished Afghanistan’s hapless bowlers on a hot afternoon in Lucknow during the second ODI match on Wednesday. 27-year-old Ishan Kishan who made his return to the fifty-over format after nearly three years brought up his second century in this format of the game off just 71 balls.

The left-handed batter was pushed down to number four and came out at the fall of Rohit Sharma’s wicket for 48 runs. At that stage, the hosts were 96 for the loss of two wicket at the start of the 14th over. Kishan began cautiously scoring three runs from his first seven balls.

His first boundary came in the first ball of the 16th over when the batter despatched Rashid Khan past the backward square region. Kishan’s first six was in the 21st over when he pulled Mohammad Saleem Safi over the long-leg region. Once he got his eye in there was no stopping the batter as he smashed the Afghan players to each and every corner of the ground.

Sunrisers Hyderabad star reached his fifty off just 52 balls with five boundaries and two sixes. His last half-century came in 2023 during the Asia Cup match against Pakistan. Hasmatullah Shahidi saw his bowlers lose the plot as the southpaw showed his class against the spinners. He reached his ton with three successive fours off Bilal Sami in the 33rd over of the innings.

Team India on the verge of posting a huge total

Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bowl first and got immediate success when they dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal for four. The batter had come into the game for Nitish Kumar Reddy who was ruled out to a niggle. Rohit Sharma briefly sizzled with the bat to score 39-ballm 48 before he was bowled by Rashid Khan.

Prior to this knock, the Jharkhand based batter’s previous century in the ODI format came in December 2022 when he scored 210 against Bangladesh. At the end of the 34th over the hosts were placed 276 for the loss of two wickets and looked well set for a massive total on the board.