Gros Islet, St Lucia, May 1: India accomplished the target of 116 in a professional manner in their opening match in the World Twenty-20 against Afghanistan at Beausejour Stadium here on Saturday.
Murali Vijay (48 off 46) provided the solid start for his side, while Yuvraj Singh (23 off 22) tried to get back in form by remaining unbeaten till the end. M S Dhoni (15 off 6) completed the victory with two huge sixes in the 15th over.
Earlier, a fifty by Noor Ali showed the glimpse of Afghanistan’s capability at the highest level as his knock took his side to a respectable total of 115.
The right-handed batsman stood at the wicket while wickets were tumbling at the other end and hit four boundaries. He was well supported by Asghar Stanikzai with his knock of 30 off 33 balls, including three huge sixes.
Ashish Nehra was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking three wickets. Praveen Kumar too contributed with two wickets while Ravindra Jadeja and Zaheer Khan chipped in with a wicket each after M S Dhoni won the toss and asked the opposition to bat first.
In reply, Vijay got himself going with a four and a six in the first over while his opening partner Gautam Gambhir (4 off 6) perished in the third over of the innings after giving a straight chance to Mohammad Nabi at cover point off Dawlat Ahmadzai.
Suresh Raina, who replaced Gambhir, started off with two well-timed strokes in the off side.
Raina continued his good form of the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) and hit a four and six against off spinner Nabi in the fifth over. But he was completely foxed by the straight delivery of Samiullah Shenwari and the leg spinner got him out LBW.
Yuvraj Singh took his time in the beginning but did not take much time to send Sadiq into the stands off a free hit.
Vijay got a life in the 11th over as he was dropped at long-off but he made full use of that let off and hit two straight six off Nabi.He was dismissed two short of his half-century off Hamid Hassan but Dhoni completed the proceeding.
No comments:
Post a Comment