India tames minnow Afghanistan

In their first match of ICC T20 World Cup, the Indian team performed brilliantly both with bat and bowl to defeat the qualifier Afghanistan by seven wickets. Afghanistan scored 115 runs in 20 overs at the loss of eight wickets. However Team India was able to chase the target of 116 runs at the loss of three wickets with the help of Murali Vijay’s wonderful knock of 48 runs.Though India didn’t have a good start and lost their precious wickets of Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina early in the match, they won the match because of Karim Sadiq’s indisciplined bowling and Yuvraj’s late hits. India reached the score of 101 in 13 overs from 67 in 10. But the hero of the match was Ashish Nehra who bowled a wonderful spell giving just 19 runs and taking 3 wickets.

The debutante Afghanistan batted first after Indian captain Mahender Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to field.They started poorly losing their three wickets just for 29 runs. Opener Noor Ali made his maiden half century, hitting four fours out of 48 balls. For the fourth wicket, Noor and Asghar Stanikzai put together the crucial 68 runs partnership at Beausejour Cricket Ground at St. Lucia. Asghar scored 30 runs off 33 balls. Asghar also hit three sixes which were spectacular. However Afghanistan Batsmen struggled against short pitch deliveries and lost their five of the eight wickets to bouncers. Karim Sadiq who opened with Noor lost his wicket to Ashish Nehra when he was caught by Dhoni behind the wicket for a duck. Mohammed Shahjad,the wicketkeeper of Afghanistan was also caught at the leg side. Shahjad scored six runs. Nowraj Mangal, the captain of Afghanistan team did not bat sensibly hitting Ravindra Jadeja‘s fourth delivery straight down mid-off to Gautam Gambhir. He was able to make only five runs. Praveen and Nehra eased India’s trouble by taking wickets of Noor, Stanikjai and off-spinning all-rounder Mohammed Nabi.

Though Afghanistan team lost the match but their players impressed everybody. Apart from Noor and Asghar, Afghanistan bowlers such as Shapoor Zadran, Mohammed Nabi and Saimullah Shenwari proved their potential. Zadran’s pace is a quality to look for as much as Nabi and Shenwari’s spin. In the powerplay, Shenwari stunned Raina with a straighter.

Ashish Nehra was declared man of the match for his brilliant display of bowling skills.