M S-led India trounce Afghanistan

India (Shar)made four changes to their playing eleven – Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Ishant and Sudeep Tyagi made way for Twenty20 International debutant Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Khan.

On winning the toss, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s skipper, inserted the Afghans.

Karim Sadiq, who faced four balls, didn’t get off the mark. Ten balls later, he was caught by Dhoni. Ashish Nehra, the player of the match, broke the six-run stand.

Mohammad Shahzad, whose five-ball innings included a boundary, scored half-a-dozen. Eleven balls later, he was caught by Dhoni. Nehra broke the 16-run stand.

Nawroz Mangal, Afghanistan’s skipper, scored five. His 11-ball innings included a boundary. Thirteen balls later, he was caught by Gautam Gambhir. Needless to say, Ravindra Jadeja was in seventh heaven.

Afghanistan scored 50 off 10.2 overs (63 balls). India had conceded three extras at that point.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 50 off 51 balls. While Noor Ali Zadran’s contribution to the partnership was 27, Asghar Stanikzai’s contribution to it was 21. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was a couple.

Noor’s half-century – which included four boundaries – came off 47 balls. He eventually faced 48 balls, failing to add to the aforementioned score. Sixty-six balls later, he was caught by Dhoni. Nehra broke the 68-run partnership.

The fifth-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Asghar Afghan, whose 33-ball innings included three sixes, scored 30. Three dot balls later, he was caught by Khan off the bowling of Kumar.

The sixth-wicket pair D(hon)idn’t get off the (Ku)mark. Mohammad Nabi, who faced three balls, didn’t open his account. The next ball, he was caught behind off the bowling of the man from Meerut.

Afghanistan scored 100 off 18 overs (111 balls). India had conceded half-a-dozen extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Raees Ahmadzai, who faced five balls, scored as many. He was unbeaten.

The seventh-wicket pair put on 10. Samiullah Shinwari, whose six-ball innings included a boundary, scored seven. (Dho)Nine balls later, Jadeja and the man from Ranchi ran him out.

Hamid Hassan, whose five-ball innings included a boundary, scored half-a-dozen. Half-a-dozen balls later, he was caught by Nehra. Needless to say, Khan was in seventh heaven.

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

Afghanistan scored 115 for the loss of eight wickets off 20 overs. Yusuf Pathan and Yuvraj Singh bowled a wicketless over apiece. While the former conceded a dozen, the latter conceded four. Harbhajan Singh, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 24.

Khan, who bowled three overs, conceded 24. He picked up a wicket, as did Jadeja, who bowled four overs, including a maiden. He conceded 15. Kumar, who bowled three overs, conceded 14. He picked up a couple of wickets. Nehra, who bowled four overs, conceded 19. He picked up three scalps.

Gambhir, who faced half-a-dozen boundaries, scored four. Fourteen balls into the chase, he was caught by Nabi. Dawlat Ahmadzai broke the 19-run stand.

Suresh Raina, whose 13-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 18. Nineteen balls later, he was trapped leg before wicket by Shinwari, who broke the 27-run stand.

India scored 50 off 6.5 overs (44 balls). Afghanistan had conceded three extras at that point.

India scored 100 off 12.2 overs (81 balls). Afghanistan had conceded eight extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

The third-wicket pair put on 50 off 45 balls. While Vijay’s contribution to the partnership was 26, Yuvraj’s contribution to it was 21. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was five.

Vijay, whose 46-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and three sixes, eventually conceded 48. Forty-nine balls after Raina’s dismissal, he was caught by Shapoor. Hassan broke the 55-run partnership.

Yuvraj, whose 22-ball innings included a six, scored 23. He was unbeaten, as was Dhoni, who scored 15. His six-ball innings included a couple of sixes.

India, who scored 116 for the loss of three wickets off 14.5 overs, won by seven wickets with 31 balls to spare.

Mangal bowled five wicketless balls, conceding 14. Sadiq and Zadran bowled two wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 22, the latter conceded half-a-dozen. Nabi bowled three wicketless overs, conceding 33.

Dawlat and Shinwari bowled two overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 21, the latter conceded 11. Hassan bowled three overs, conceding eight. He picked up a wicket.