Venue/Date: Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia, 1 May 2010.India won toss and elected to fieldT20 debut: Murali Vijay (India)Player of the match Ashish Nehra Result: India won by 2 wkts. India cruised to an easy seven wicket win against Afghanistan at St Lucia in their ICC World T20 opener on Saturday. Chasing a modest total (116), the champions of the inaugural edition romped home with 31 balls to spare. India began on an aggressive note, Murali Vijay a boundary over mid-off followed by a maximum over deep midwicket off Dawlat Ahmadzai's first over. However, the bowler struck in his second over, having Gautam Gambhir (4) caught by Mohammad Nabi at cover point. Shapoor Zadran was miserly in his first couple of overs, giving away just six runs. Despite losing Gautam Gambhir early, Raina and Murali Vijay have kept the scoreboard ticking along at a good pace in pursuit of a victory. Samiullah Shenwari trapped Suresh Raina in front of the wickets to give Afghanistan more reason to cheer in their opening encounter against India. Vijay has carried on from where he left in the IPL while Yuvraj Singh seems like getting back to some kind of touch with India nicely placed for a win against Afghanistan. The Vijay-Yuvraj partnership then took over the proceedings, with the former hitting successive sixes over long-off off Nabi. Hamid Hassan got Murali Vijay to hole out to Shapoor Zadran in the deep after the opener cracked 48 to help India land on the door-steps of an easy win. In came captain MS Dhoni (15 not out) and he ensured an early end, smashing successive sixes off his Afghanistan counterpart Nowroz Mangal. Earlier, batting first Afghanistan were able to make 115 for eight. Ashish Nehra picked up three wickets and Praveen Kumar pocketed two as Afghanistan found themselves all at sea against India at St Lucia. That's the first one down for Afghanistan. Karim Sadiq tried to pull one away from Nehra but ended up gloving it to MS Dhoni behind the stumps. Mohammad Shehzad goes and Nehra gets his second wicket. The ball seemed to brush past the helmet on its way to Dhoni but India will take … [Read more...]
Afghanistan T20 World Cup Team Analysis
When you think Afghanistan, you think of bombs in bazaars, landmines on roads, guns, abject poverty. But come May 1st, Afghanistan will play India in its first T20 World cup match ever at St. Lucia in the West Indies. Afghanistan managed to qualify for the tournament by beating Ireland and U.A.E. in the qualifiers in February. Afghanistan in T20 Cricket world cup: Group: C Other teams in group C: South Africa and India Prediction: May not win even a single game due to tough opponents in group C. Plus points: Unpredictable nature of T20, Lack of high expectation and lack of any idea on team. This event was met with great outpouring of joy in the streets of Kabul. These victories put Afghanistan in group C, considered a tough group, as India and South Africa, both strong teams are the other members. Afghanistan will play South Africa on May 5th at Barbados. But these teams cannot afford to take Afghanistan lightly. The team members are a hardy lot as they have literally grown up in a conflict zone with their lives perpetually at risk. One can't expect such a team to be a meek minnow. The coach, Kabir Khan, is a former Pakistani fast bowler. He is confident that the Afghans can beat any other team. Most of the team members have learnt cricket from their neighbour, Pakistan. Last year, the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, granted permission to set up a national cricket board. Though the finance ministry has earmarked funds for the national cricket team, there is a lack of facilities, with Kabul, the capital having only 1 cricket ground. The 15 member Afghan squad consists of the following members : Nawroz Mangal (captain), Mohammad Nabi, Karim Sadiq, Mirwais Ashraf, Rais Ahmadzai, Dawlat Ahmadzai, Mohammad Shahzad, Hamid Hassan, Samiullah Shinwari, Noor Ali, Asghar Stanikzai, Shahpoor Zadran, Shabir Noori, Sayed Nasrat, Shafiq Shafaq. Afghanistan Player profiles: Nawroz Mangal (captain): Mangal has been the captain of the national side of Afghanistan since 2007 . He is a right handed batsman and also bowls. This 25 year old made his … [Read more...]
