India vs Afghanistan, 7th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Series: ICC World Cup Warm up matches, 2015 Venue: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Date & Time: Feb 10, 02:00 PM LOCAL

India captain MS Dhoni shakes hands with Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi before the toss. © Cricbuzz

While it has been two months of gruelling cricket, for India Down Under, they are still searching for their first win in the country. They lost the Test series, crashed out in the tri-series tournament and then lost their first warm-up game against Australia. In their last match, India's bowling problems came back to haunt them as the hosts posted an intimidating total of 371 on the board. Although the batsmen fought back hard, a total this high was never going to be easy to chase and India ended up well short.

Meanwhile, the impressive Afghanistan side will be eager to make an impact in the tournament. They have the capability to upset other teams. With the likes of Shapoor Zadran, Dawlat Zadran and Hamid Hassan in the team, they command a strong bowling attack. In comparison, their major weakness has been their batting, which seems to implode under pressure. This is their first warm-up fixture and the minnows will be hoping to make a positive impression before the main tournament kicks of.

India captain MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first.

Dhoni:"We have to play well and find out what is the best suited eleven for us. We want to get the most out of this game, see what you can do. We will bat first. I want the middle-order to get a chance to bat. Not worried about getting too many runs on the board. Just want to make the most out of it. All 15 are fit and ready, which is a rarity."

Nabi: "It is a big event for us. It is a good preparation for the World Cup, hopefully we will do well. They are batting first so it will be a bit tough, but now we will get a chance to give a lot of time for our bowling. We know these conditions well because we have spent one month in Australia and in New Zealand as well."

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Usman Ghani, Nawroz Mangal, Afsar Zazai(w), Mohammad Nabi(c), Asghar Stanikzai, Samiullah Shenwari, Mirwais Ashraf, Nasir Jamal, Gulbadin Naib, Aftab Alam, Najibullah Zadran, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Hamid Hassan, Javed Ahmadi

Hamid Hassan delivered an early breakthrough, sending back Shikhar Dhawan in the third over. The left-handed opener pushed forward to play a delivery well away from it and ended up getting a thick inside edge onto the stumps to depart on 4.

Virat Kohli got off the mark in style, clipped a Dawlat Zadran delivery to the mid-wicket boundary in the fourth over However, that was the only boundary that the batsman could score in this game as he fell in the same over. It was a full delivery that swung away late and the batsman, trying to poke at it without moving his feet, got an outside edge. Wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai took a fine low catch, diving to his right, to send back Kohli on 5.

31 80

Rahane was dealing in boundaries in the death overs - he scored three fours off Aftab Alam in the 48th over and managed one off Shapoor in the penultimate one to help India to the 350 mark. India could only manage one four in the final over, which came off Ravindra Jadeja's bat. However, the over yielded nine runs as the Dhoni-led side finished with a mammoth 364/5 with Rahane scoring an unbeaten 88 off only 61 deliveries.

The Indian team would have been pleased that they could post a big total, considering that they were off to a disastrous start. Dhawan was knocked over very early while Kohli too perished cheaply to put a lot of pressure on the middle order. However, a sensational 158-run third wicket stand between Rohit and Raina steadied the ship for India before Rahane provided the finishing touch to the innings with a blitzy knock.

Suresh Raina: "The plan was to just hang in there and play a few balls. Me and Rohit had a good partnership. I looked to play proper cricket, get used to the left-arm fast bowler (Shapoor) because Pakistan have (Mohammad) Irfan. He (Kohli) is a great match-winner. I know, before the main game we will all be up for the challenge. Hopefully we'll start with Umesh, Shami and Stuart and then see how many spinners we are going to play with. We would look to restrict them to 140, we are thinking about 360, we would want to see this as 250-260."

India decided to open the attack with Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami, and both bowlers gave away a few boundaries as Javed Ahmadi and Usman Ghani got Afghanistan off to a positive start in the chase. However, it was not too long before India managed their first breakthrough. Ahmadi tried to cut a Yadav delivery that did not have much width and ended up edging it to Dhoni to depart on 17 in the 5th over.

Rohit Sharma (150), Ajinkya Rahane (88*) and Suresh Raina (75) had fine outings with the bat to power India to a mammoth 364/5. After that, it was a good workout for the Indian bowlers. Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin bowled brilliantly in the middle overs to keep a lid on the scoring rate. Umesh Yadav was inconsistent at the start, but manage to make up for it. Shami and Mohit were also on the mark and didn't give away any freebies. India's fielding though was a bit of a let down. There were a couple of dropped catches and a few easy runs given away. Apart from that, it was a clinical all-round performance from the defending champions in their final warm-up game.

Things slowed down after the departure of Ahmadi as Ghani and Mangal batted in a watchful manner. Apart from a couple of short deliveries from Mohit Sharma and Shami, that were dispatched to the boundary, the Indian bowlers kept a tight lid on the scoring rate, not giving too many scoring opportunities.

Ghani and Mangal, having spent some time at the crease, came up with some big shots to help Afghanistan forward. However, the required rate was still on the rise. Ghani had a lucky break in the 19th over when Shami put down a simple catch at ling-on to deny R Ashwin a wicket. However, his outing came to an end in the 21st over when Dhawan showed good presence of mind to give Jadeja a wicket. The batsman mistimed a slog and the ball headed towards deep mid-wicket. Dhawan, who ran back, put in the dive and held on to the ball, before it popped out as his elbow hit the ground. He juggled with the ball before relaying it to Yadav, who held on to the ball safely and send back Ghani on 44.

There was another dropped catch by an Indian fielder - this time it was Ambati Rayudu, who put down Mangal in the 25th over off Jadeja at deep backward square. The batsman went on to heave one just past the ropes in the same over to further annoy Jadeja. Mangal went on to register a half-century with a single off Shami in the 33rd over. However, the asking rate got steeper, crossing the 13-an-over mark.

Mohit Sharma sent back Asghar Stanikzai in the 35th over thanks to Shami, who took a fine running catch at mid on when the batsman attempted a big shot. Najibullah Zadran fell in the first over of the Batting PP, stumped off R Ashwin, Nawroz nicked one to Dhoni to give Mohit another wicket while Nabi was bowled by Jadeja as Afghanistan slipped to 169/6 in the 40th over.

A miscommunication resulted in the dismissal of Shenwari as he and Zazai were at the same end when the combined efforts of Rohit, Jadeja and Rayudu got India their seventh wicket. Mirwais was bowled by Raina in the 48th over and Afghanistan ended up with 211/8 after 50 overs to lose by 153 runs.