India to chase 116 against Afghanistan

Gros Islet, St Lucia, May 1: 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 against India in their World Twenty-20 game at Beausejour Stadium here on Saturday.
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.
Earlier, Nehra provided the first breakthrough for his side by taking Karin Sadiq behind the wickets.
Afghan’s first boundary came from the bat of Noor Ali, who glanced Praveen Kumar off his pads and followed it up with a square drive in the same over.
Nehra got the wicket of Mohammad Shahzad, who got out exactly in the same manner as Sadiq, giving a simple catch to MS Dhoni on a bouncer.
Indian skipper brought Ravindra Jadeja in the fourth over and the ploy worked immediately, as the slow left-arm spinner got rid of Nowroz Mangal, Afghan captain at mid-off.
Spinners were introduced one after the other and all of them bowled with an extremely tight line and length.
Noor Ali broke the shackles by hitting Jadeja over the covers for a boundary.
Some good strikes by Noor Ali gave confidence to Stanikzai, who was batting at the other end rather tentatively till that point. He hit Yusuf Pathan for a long six over the deep mid-wicket fence and sent Harbhajan Singh out of the park in the same region.
Noor Ali got his fifty in the 17th over off 47 balls but got out immediately after that, giving Dhoni his third catch of the match.
Praveen Kumar then provided two wickets on the consecutive deliveries in the 18th over. A run-out and a wicket by Zaheer Khan in the last over folded the Afghan innings at 115.