Asia Cup 2014: India vs Afghanistan - As it happened...

Live updates of the 9th match of Asia Cup between India and Afghanistan.

Zee Media Bureau/Chaitan Papnai

SCORECARD» | COMMENTARY» | REPORT» ============================================================== India Innings Over 32.2 || Score 160/2 Some consolation for the Indian team as they defeat Afghanistan by 8 wickets. Rohit Sharma drove Samiullah Shenwari through covers for a boundary for the winning runs. India win with a bonus point, but unfortunately that isn't of any help now. Meanwhile, Rahane and Dhawan would be happy to have found some form, while Indian skipper would be wondering what went wrong in the tournament. Dinest Karthik 21* (27b) Rohit Sharma 18* (24) ============================================================== Over 30 || Score 146/2 Afghanistan had some respite as they managed to dismiss the openers in successive overs. Rahane was the first batsman to be dismissed in the 24th over, as he was wrongly given out lbw off the bowling of Mirwais Ashraf. In the next over, Dhawan too lost some concentration as he was bowled by the Afghanistan skipper. The wickets came too late for Afghanistan as India now need just 14 runs to win from 20 overs. Karthik and Sharma are the two batsmen at the crease. S Dhawan b Mohammad Nabi 60 (78b) AM Rahane lbw b Mirwais Ashraf 56 (66b) ============================================================== Over 23 || Score 120/0 Now the match is in India's grip. Afghanistan's bowling has been very ordinary. They have failed in front of formidable Indian batting line-up. Dhawan and Rahane have completed their half-centuries. Now both have started changing gears. In the last three overs, Afghanistan bowlers have conceded 27 runs. =================================================== Over 19 || Score 88/0 Rahane smashed two consecutive fours off Samiullah in the 18th over. Rahane's batting has been flawless today. He is on 49 just one run short of his second fifty in the series. =================================================== Over 14 || Score 58/0 Samiullah dropped Dhawan at the point region in the 13th over. A costly drop. Indian openers are easily picking runs and also not shying away from punishing loose deliveries. Rahane and Dhawan are both displaying great blend of defence and attack. India on the top at this point of the game. Afghanistan bowlers are struggling. =================================================== Over 9 || Score 34/0 Indian openers are in no hurry. They have given a steady start with the bat. The main objective was not to lose early wickets. Here's the innings break. Stay tuned for further updates. =================================================== Over 5 || Score 15/0 Ajinkya Rahane has replaced Rohit Sharma to open the innings alongside Shikhar Dhawan. Both the batsmen are looking circumspect and trying to play without taking risk. Only a boundary so far in the Indian innings. =================================================== Afghanistan Innings Over 45 || Score 159/8 This time Shenwari misses Shami's ball while trying to work it away on the on side. Ball hits pad in front of the stumps. The appeal is being upheld by the Umpire. And Afghanistan's innings have come to an end. India get 160 runs to chase. Samiullah Shenwari lbw b Mohammed Shami 50 (73b) =================================================== Over 40 || Score 145/9 Samiullah Shenwari tried to give some stability to his team by scoring boundaries. But again Ashwin strikes with his carron ball which caught Shapoor Zadran in front. Ashwin got his third wicket. Shapoor Zadran lbw b Ashwin 1 (13b) =================================================== Over 34 || Score 113/8 Two wickets have fallen in the last eight overs of the play. Mishra has got his man in the form of Mirwais Ashraf, Ashraf could not handle the googly and caught by Kohli at the slip. Mohammad Shahzad was trapped infront by Ashwin. This time Ashwin's carrom ball did the trick. Mirwais Ashraf c Kohli b Mishra 9 (26b) Mohammad Shahzad lbw b Ashwin 22 (28b) =================================================== Over 25 || Score 93/6 All three spinners are bowling well for India. Especially Mishra, who is getting some extra bit of bounce and spin. But unluckily he hasn't got a wicket yet. Ravinder Jadeja collected his fourth wicket in 21st over in the form of Mohammad Nabi. Afghanistan's middle order has failed to capitalise on a good start given by the top order and are reeling at 93 for six. Mohammad Nabi c Karthik b Jadeja 6 (20b) =================================================== Over 20 || Score 81/5 Indian spinners are on a roll here. Jadeja picked up his third wicket in his second over in the form of Stanikzai, who only managed to score five runs. Then in the 18th over R Ashwin has been introduced for the very first time in the match. And Ashwin picked a wicket in his first ball. Najibullah Zadran tried to launch Ashwin for a six but failed to connect it well and substitute fielder Binny took a good catch at mid-off. Suddenly, the Afghanistan batting is heading towards a collapse. Najibullah Zadran c sub (STR Binny) b Ashwin 5 (14b) Asghar Stanikzai c Mishra b Jadeja 5 (7b) =================================================== Over 14 || Score 58/3 After a good start Afghanistan have lost two quick wickets. Indian skipper introduced Ravinder Jadeja in the 13th over and the left-arm spinner took no time to scalp two wickets in his first over. He first got the better of Rahmat and within a gap of a ball sent dangerous Noor Ali towards the pavilion as well. Meanwhile, Afghanistan have crossed the mark of 50 runs. Noor Ali Zadran c Kohli b Jadeja 31 (35b) Rahmat Shah lbw b Jadeja 9 (23b) =================================================== Over 10 || Score 48/1 In the first ten overs, Bangladeshi batsmen have shown signs of maturity and have scored 48 runs at the cost of one wicket. Both the players at crease – Noor and Rahmat Shah – are playing sensible cricket. In fact, Noor hasn't missed a single chance to score a boundary on any loose ball. Indian seamers are looking ordinary at the moment. =================================================== Over 6 || Score 32/1 Shami gave India their first breakthrough in the form of Nawroz Mangal in the sixth over. Mangal tried to play a cut shot but got a thick inside edge of his bat and the ball crashed into the stumps. He got out after making five runs. Nawroz Mangal b Mohammed Shami 5 (16b) =================================================== Over 3 || Score 20/0 A good start by Afghani openers. In the second over bowled by Mohammed Shami, Noor Ali Zadran collected two boundaries. And then in the next, the other opener Nawroz Manga smashed Bhuvi for four to collect his first boundary of the innings. =================================================== Nawroz Mangal and Noor Ali Zadran are in the middle to open the innings for Afghanistan, whereas, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will start the bowling proceedings for India. ============================================================== The match will start within a few minutes. Indian have retained the same squad whereas, Afghanistan have made one change to their playing XI, bringing in Rahmat Shah in place of Hamza Kotak. ============================================================== So Virat Kohli has won the toss and elected to bowl first. ============================================================== Mirpur: India will lock horns with Afghanistan today in the ninth league match of the Asia Cup at Shere Bangla National Stadium. It`s a dead rubber as the finalists of the five-nation tournament have already decided. But in today`s match, India will play for pride, whereas minnows Afghanistan will try to put up another impressive show in the tournament. Hit hard by successive defeats, India will be eyeing a big win over Afghanistan to boost their sagging morale in what has been a depressing campaign for the record five-time champions. It will be once again a test of the Indian batting against minnows Afghanistan who have been a revelation in this tournament putting up an impressive show especially with their pace bowling. They have a potent pace attack in the Zadran duo of Shapoor and Dawlat and the left-right combination bring in the variety to fast bowling. Spin department also has the variety in the trio of skipper Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari and Hamza Hotak. Both the teams will play against each other for the very first time in the ODIs.