Asia Cup, highlights: Rahane, Dhawan guide India to comprehensive 8-wicket win over Afghanistan

India beat Afghanistan by eight wickets in their final match of the Asia Cup. Follow highlights here: (Scorecard | Text Commentary | Points Table | Innings report)

19.42 (IST): Man-of-the-match Ravindra Jadeja: The wicket was a bit slow. So I was trying to bowl slow through the air. I wanted to mix things up a bit. Many people are following my beard and moustache style in India. I hope I can keep my game also going well. Duncan Fletcher asked us to be focused as this too was an ODI.

19.40 (IST): Indian captain Virat Kohli:  It was a complete performance. It's very hard to motivate yourself when you haven't qualified. Being more relaxed worked for us better today. The guys executed our plans well throughout.

19.39 (IST): Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi: Great tournament for our team. We proved that we are a good team in Asia. We have learnt a lot from Test nations and it is a good sign for us. Ashwin and Jadeja bowl brilliantly. Our batsmen played well in first 10 overs. We will try our best in our next opportunity. Hope to play more against the full members which will be a great learning experience for us.

 

19.26 (IST): Ajinkya Rahane: Afghanistan started really well. We thought they will score around 230. But our bowlers did well. I was very happy to spend some time in the middle. The wicket was slow so Dhawan and I decided to take our time. Disappointing to get knocked out but we played well. We have some positives to take forward to T20 World Cup.

 

19.20 (IST):  India beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets in Mirpur. Dhawan (56) and Rahane (60) set up India's run chase after Ravindra Jadeja (4/30), Ravichandran Ashwin (3/30), Mohammed Shami (2/50) and Amit Mishra (1/21) helped India bowl out Afghanistan cheaply for 159. This win gives India a bonus point as Virat Kohli's team finished third in the Asia Cup.

 

19.13 (IST): India take batting powerplay after reaching 146/2 in 30 overs, need 14 runs to win from 20 overs.

19.03 (IST): Dinesh Karthik collects 10 runs from Mirwais Ashraf's over. India 140/2 in 28 overs, need 20 to win from 132 balls.

18.51 (IST): OUT! Mohammad Nabi strikes! He cleans up Shikhar Dhawan for 60. India 123/2 in 24.3 overs.

18.45 (IST): Rohit Sharma walks out at No.3 for India.

18.43 (IST): OUT! Mirwais Ashraf traps Ajinkya Rahane in front of the stumps. Rahane departs for 56, India 121/1 in 23.3 overs.

18.38 (IST): Fifties for Dhawan and Rahane! Dhawan gets his seventh in ODIs while Rahane has scored his 5th of the format.

18.30 (IST): The duo of Shikhar Dhawan (39) and Ajinkya Rahane (49) have put India on course for the run chase vs Afghanistan. They've taken the team total to 93/0 in 20 overs, need 67 runs to win from 30 overs.

18.10 (IST): India reach 63/0 in 15 overs, with Dhawan (31) and Rahane (30) in the middle.

18.04 (IST): Dropped! Samiullah Shenwari puts down a simple chance at point to give Shikhar Dhawan (28) a reprieve. This was the first real chance of Afghanistan getting a breakthrough. India 56/0 in 13.2 overs.

17.43 (IST): The teams are back on the field. India are 34/0 in 9 overs, need 126 runs to win from 41 overs.

17.03 (IST): India reach 34/0 in 9 overs with Rahane (16) and Dhawan (18) in the middle. The teams head back to the pavilion for their dinner break.

16.53 (IST): Slow start for India here. Rahane (10) and Dhawan (12) have taken the score to 22/0 in 7 overs.

16.29 (IST): Ajinkya Rahane has been promoted up the order. He opens the Indian innings with Shikhar Dhawan as India begin chase of 160.

 

16.21 (IST): Ravindra Jadeja (4/30), Ravichandran Ashwin (3/31), Mohammed Shami (2/50) and Amit Mishra (1/21) skittled out Afghanistan cheaply for 159. The wicket offered some turn and the Indian spinners took complete advantage of it, claiming eight out of the 10 wickets. India now need 160 to win.

16.20 (IST): End of innings! Afghanistan bowled out for 159 in 45.2 overs.

16.12 (IST): Fifty for Samiullah Shenwari! It is his 5th in ODIs. It has come in 70 balls. Afghanistan 158/9 in 43.3 overs.

15.56 (IST): Afghanistan reach 145/9 in 40 overs with Samiullah Shenwari (38) and Dawlat Zadran (1) in the middle.

15.48 (IST): Afghanistan are nine down! Shapoor Zadran has been trapped leg before by Ravichandran Ashwin. Afghanistan 137/9 in 38 overs.

15.44 (IST): Meanwhile in the third and final Test between South Africa and Australia, an interesting contest is on the cards. South Africa are five down in their chase of 511.

15.40 (IST): Afghanistan reach 127/8 in 36 overs, with Shenwari (21) and Shapoor Zadran (1) in the middle.

15.27 (IST): Eight down now! Amit Mishra strikes with a wrong'un. Ashraf is gone, caught at first slip by Virat Kohli.  Afghanistan 111/8 in 32.1 overs.

 

15.15 (IST): 100 up for Afghanistan. It has come in 27.5 overs. Afghanistan 101/7 in 27.5 overs.

15.10 (IST): Another wicket goes! Mohammad Shahzad, who was looking good for his 22, has been trapped in front of the stumps by Ashwin. Afghanistan 93/7 in 25.4 overs.

14.56 (IST): Six down! Ravindra Jadeja gets his fourth wicket! Mohammad Nabi (6) is gone, caught behind by Dinesh Karthik. Afghanistan 83/6 in 21 overs.

14.53 (IST): Afghanistan reach 81/5 in 20 overs with Mohammad Shahzad (13) and Mohammad Nabi (4) in the middle. For India, Ravichandran Ashwin has figures of three for 12 in four overs, Ashwin has one for six in one over, Amit Mishra has none for 11 in 4 overs while Shami has one for 33 in 5 overs.

14.51 (IST): Mohammad Shahzad has slammed the first six of the Afghanistan innings. Afghanistan 78/5 in 19 overs.

14.44 (IST): Now, Ravichandran Ashwin comes into the attack and strikes straight away! Najibullah Zadran has hit one straight to substitute fielder Stuart Binny at long off. Afghanistan 64/5 in 17.1 overs

14.33 (IST): Third wicket for Ravindra Jadeja! Ashghar Stanikzai hits one to Amit Mishra at mid-on. Afghanistan 60/4 in 14.3 overs.

14.24 (IST): Noor Ali Zadran is also gone! Two wickets in three balls for Jadeja as a turning delivery clips Noor Ali on the gloves and went to Virat Kohli at first slip. Afghanistan 54/3 in 12.3 overs.

14.22 (IST): OUT! Ravindra Jadeja strikes first ball! He has trapped Rahmat Shah in front of the stumps. Afghanistan 54/2 in 12.1 overs.

14.18 (IST): Leg-spinner Amit Mishra comes into the attack. Afghanistan 52/1 in 11 overs.

14.10 (IST): Afghanistan reach 48/1 in 10 overs,  with Noor Ali (29) and Rahmat Shah (5) in the middle.

14.02 (IST): This game marks the end of the Asia Cup campaign for both India and Afghanistan. While India will go back disappointed for not making it to the final of the tournament, Afghanistan will receive a hero's welcome back home for beating Bangladesh in their first even win over a Test playing nation. Here's an interesting story on how Afghanistan celebrated that memorable victory.

13.53 (IST): Shami strikes! Nawroz Mangal (5) has played a ball onto his stumps to give India their first breakthrough. Afghanistan 30/1 in 5.1 overs.

13.45 (IST): A positive start for Afghanistan here! Noor Ali (17) and Nawroz Mangal (4) have not hesitated to dispatch the poor deliveries to the fence through covers and guide them down the leg side to the fine leg boundary. Shami has had a poor start here, going for a lot of runs and not getting his rhythm right. 23 runs have come from his two overs. Afghanistan 29/0 in 4 overs.

13.33 (IST): Bhuvneshwar Kumar starts the proceedings for India and gives just two runs away. Afghanistan 2/0 in 1 over.

13.23 (IST): Sunil Gavaskar is shocked by India's choice to not make any changes to the side in the dead rubber vs Afghanistan. He said, "It is baffling that Ishwar Pandey and Pujara are not given chances. Are they worried that if they do well then their favorite batsman or bowler will not be able to get there place in team. This is really ridiculous."

13.00 (IST): Virat Kohli has won the toss and elected to field first vs Afghanistan in the dead rubber. Surprisingly, there are no changes in the side. The likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishwar Pandey will remain on the bench.

Preview

A demoralised India would look to end their Asia Cup campaign on a positive note when they take on Afghanistan in their last round-robin league match in Mirpur today. After winning against hosts Bangladesh, India suffered defeats against Sri Lanka and Pakistan to bow out of the tournament.

India's hopes of a miraculous entry into the final of the Asia Cup got buried under another Shahid Afridi blinder on Tuesday night. With Pakistan chasing down 327 against Bangladesh to snatch another thrilling last-over win, they sealed a final clash with already qualified Sri Lanka, thus reducing India's match against Afghanistan on Wednesday to one of academic interest only. Pakistan have 13 points and so do Sri Lanka, with a match in hand. India can only hope to sign off their disastrous campaign with a win against spirited debutants Afghanistan and finish with 9, even if they earn a bonus point.

India have looked vulnerable without regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The batting has centred around stand-in captain Virat Kohli as none of the other batsmen have shown the temperament to stay at the crease.

It will be a test of the Indian batting against 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. (Read more)

India wary of Afghan pacers, says Rayudu

Despite the demoralising defeats against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, India middle order batsman Ambati Rayudu put his weight behind stand-in skipper Virat Kohli and his teammates, saying that the captain as well as the team are putting in as much effort as they could. "He has been learning a lot from Dhoni bhai. He has been very proactive and did a fantastic job against Pakistan. Although we have been losing, we are putting in a lot of effort," Rayudu said.

"They (Afghanistan) are a very good bowling side as we have seen in the competition. We just need to keep our head down and make sure we get runs," Rayudu said. (Read more)

Teams

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron and Ishwar Pandey.

Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (c), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor Ali Zardan, Asghar Stanikzai, Nawroj Mangal, Samiullah Shenwari, Najibullah Zardan, Mirwais Ashraf, Hamza Hotak, Dawlat Zardan, Shapoor Zardan, Hamid Hassan, Karim Sadiq, Rahmat Shah, Fazal Niazai.