World T20: Spirited Afghanistan lose to India

Indian players were subjected to a fair bit of scare but they came out on the winning side against Afghanistan in the opening Group A match in Colombo. A look at the key moments from the match. (AFP images)

Afghanistan struck early after wining the toss. Opener Gautam Gambhir had his middle-stumps out after an inside edge off his bat, yet again.

Shapoor Zadran had the Indian openers in trouble from the start and he claimed the wicket of Gambhir on 10.

Zadran soon returned to remove Virender Sehwag and the Afghans were celebrating in what were unprecedented scenes on the cricket field.<br><br>Sehwag managed 8 to leave India on 22 for 2 in 4.1.

Yuvraj Singh was too cautious and had 18 off 20 balls before surrendering to Karim Sadiq's spin.

Virat Kohli was powerful in his approach, however. He hit another half-century - his sixth on the trot cutting across formats - to help steady India.

He however fell to Dawlat Zadran (left) a ball after completing his half-century.

Suresh Raina was at the other end and he had made the most of his two dropped catches. He hit 38 off 33.

Raina fell in the final over and skipper MS Dhoni finished the innings with a boundary and a six off the final two to take India to 159/5.

In reply, the Afghans were extremely confident in their approach. Mohammad Shahzad took on Indian bowling and hit three boundaries before falling to L Balaji (not in picture).

Yuvraj Singh soon found himself in the middle with the ball and took three wickets to blunt a solid attack and carve a tentative win.