M S-led India beat Afghanistan

India made just one change to their playing eleven – Manoj Tiwary made way for Virender Sehwag.

Afghanistan made four changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Noor Ali Zadran, the Ahmadzais (Raees and Dawlat) and Hamid Hassan made way for Shafiqullah, Gulbadin Naib and the Zadrans (Twenty20 International debutant Najibullah and Dawlat).

On winning the toss, Nawroz Mangal, Afghanistan’s skipper, inserted the Indians.

The Powerplay of India’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 34, and lost a couple of wickets.

Gautam Gambhir, whose eight-ball innings included a boundary, scored 10. Thirteen balls later, Shapoor Zadran broke the 15-run stand.

Sehwag, whose 10-ball innings included a boundary, scored eight. A dozen balls later, he was caught by Mohammad Shahzad. Needless to say, Shapoor was in seventh heaven.

India scored 50 off 7.5 overs (47 balls). Afghanistan had conceded three extras at that point.

Yuvraj Singh, whose 20-ball innings included a six, scored 18. Thirty-six balls after Sehwag’s dismissal, he was caught by Shahzad. Karim Sadiq broke the 46-run stand.

Eighty-one balls into the match, Sadiq kept wicket in place of Shahzad.

India scored 100 off 13.5 overs (83 balls). The number of extras they had conceded at that point gave Afghanistan no reason to be in seventh heaven.

Virat Kohli was the player of the match. His half-century – which included four boundaries and a couple of sixes – came off 38 balls. He faced 39 balls, failing to add to the aforementioned score. Thirty-three balls after Yuvraj’s dismissal, he was caught by Mohammad Nabi. Dawlat Zadran broke the 46-run stand.

Suresh Raina, whose 33-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, scored 38. Twenty-two balls later, Nabi broke the 34-run stand.

India scored 150 off 19.5 overs (119 balls). Afghanistan had conceded 16 extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Mahendra Singh, India’s skipper, scored 18 off (Dho)nine balls, which included a couple of boundaries and a six. He was unbeaten, as was Rohit Sharma, who faced a ball, scoring a run.

India scored 159 for the loss of five wickets off 20 overs. Samiullah Shinwari and Naib bowled a couple of wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 16, the latter conceded 15.

Nabi, Sadiq and Dawlat Zadran bowled four overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. They conceded 35, 33 and 25, respectively. Shapoor, who bowled four overs, conceded 25. He picked up a couple of scalps.

The Powerplay of Afghanistan’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth innings. They scored 42, and lost a wicket.

Shahzad, whose 16-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 18. Twenty-three balls into the chase, he was caught by Yuvraj. Lakshmipathy Balaji broke the 26-run stand.

Afghanistan scored 50 off 6.4 overs (40 balls). India had conceded an extra at that point.

Mangal, whose 18-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 22. Twenty balls after Shahzad’s dismissal, he was trapped leg before wicket by Yuvraj, who broke the 26-run stand.

Sadiq, whose run-a-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 26. Twenty-five balls later, he was caught by Gambhir. Yuvraj broke the 23-run stand.

The fourth-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Asghar Afghan, who faced nine balls, scored half-a-dozen. The next ball, he was caught by Dhoni off the bowling of Yuvraj.

Shinwari, who faced a couple of balls, scored a run. Four balls later, he was caught by Ravichandran Ashwin, who broke the one-run stand.

Afghanistan scored 100 off 14.5 overs (89 balls). India had conceded four extras at that point.

Shafiqullah, whose nine-ball innings included a six, scored eight. Seventeen balls later, he was trapped leg before wicket by Irfan Pathan, who broke the 24-run stand.

Nabi, whose 17-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and as many sixes, scored 31. Eleven balls later, he was caught by Sharma. Ashwin broke the 19-run stand.

The eighth-wicket pair put on half-a-dozen. Najibullah, whose two-ball innings included a boundary, scored five. Five balls later, Dhoni and Balaji ran him out.

Naib faced 14 balls, scoring just five. Ten balls later, he was caught by Raina. Balaji broke the 11-run stand.

The last-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Dawlat Zadran, who faced five balls, scored eight. His runs came by way of boundaries. The next ball, he was dismissed by Balaji.

Shapoor, who didn’t face a ball, was unbeaten.

India eventually conceded half-a-dozen extras. Afghanistan, who scored 136 off 19.3 overs, lost by 23 runs. Sharma, who bowled an over, conceded 10. He was wicketless, as was Zaheer Khan, who bowled three overs, conceding 32.

Pathan, who bowled four overs, conceded 29. He picked up a wicket. Ashwin, who bowled four overs, conceded 20. He picked up two wickets. Balaji, who bowled 3.3 overs, conceded 19. He picked up three scalps, as did Yuvraj, who bowled four overs, conceding 24.