Afghanistan pulled up a spirited fight against the current ICC ODI champions and 2007 ICC T20 World Cup winner India in their first match of the ICC T20 World Cup today. Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal won the toss and decided to field. India struggled early and the out of form openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag were scalped early by Shapoor Zadran. However, Virat Kohli (50 runs off 39 balls), Suresh Raina (38 runs off 33 balls) and a quickfire 18 runs off 9 balls by Indian skipper MS Dhoni helped India reach 159 runs for 5 wickets in 20 overs. Though the ground fielding of the Afghanistan players were upto the mark but the number of missed catches (including several easy ones) definitely reflected the lack of experience at the international stage. Afghanistan in reply started well with Mohammad Shahzad scoring 18 runs off 16 balls while captain Nawroz Mangal scored 22 runs off 18 balls followed by Karim Sadiq (26 runs off 26 balls). However, once the Indian spinners came, the Afghanistan batsmen found it quite difficult and except for a quickfire 31 runs off 17 balls by Mohammad Nabi, all the other batsmen went out early. Afghanistan were all out for 136 runs in 19.3 overs. Yuvraj Singh and L Balaji scalped 3 wickets each for India while R Ashwin took 2. Virat Kohli was awarded the Man of the Match.

As a writer in a popular Indian news website pointed out, India took the T20 match but Afghanistan won hearts. Except for the missed catches, Afghanistan played like an extremely professional and seasonal team in World Cricket. India is a subcontinental giant and are well aware of playing conditions in the subcontinental tracks such as those in Sri Lanka where the matches are held. However, England does not have an exceptional record in the subcontinent. But at the same time, they are also the current T20 champions though the last T20 World Cup was held on completely different conditions. So, the next match might be even more interesting if Afghanistan players give their best against England in their next World Cup T20 match on 21st of September.

However, there are a few points that the Afghanistan team needs to ponder upon before the next match:

1) The observation today was that Afghanistan batsmen are not the best against bouncers. And Afghan bowlers do not use the bouncer that frequently too. England bowlers use bouncers as a regular weapon in their cricketing arsenal. So, Afghanistan batsmen need to rectify their weakness against the short ball or England might use it extensively.

2) England is one of the best fielding sides in the world and hardly ever miss catches. But Afghanistan fielders seemed to have butter fingers while catching today. Catches win matches. So, if they cannot hold on to the catches, then England will have a major advantage on that front too.

3) England also has a couple of good spinners. So, Afghanistan needs to play the spinners well in order to pull up a good batting performance.

One benefit for Afghanistan though is that England’s star batsman and one of the world’s most prolific T20 players Kevin Pietersen is not going to be present in the English team. Afghanistan players need to give their best in order to have any chances of defeating the current T20 World Cup champions in the next match. A win in the next match might also pave way for Afghanistan to move to the super eights round for the first time in it’s history.

ICC has decided to discuss again the composition of the 2015 Cricket World Cup during the ICC ‘s annual conference in Hong Kong in end-June after being requested to do so by the ICC President from India Sharad Pawar. Pawar had made the request following a widespread criticism of the new format which would have left out teams like Ireland and Afghanistan without giving them any chance to compete and prove themselves.

According to Cricinfo, Sharad Pawar said:

I have given this matter further serious thought and will request the Board to consider this topic once more. I can understand the views of the Associates and Affiliates and the ICC will seek to deal with this issue in the best way possible.

Hopefully this will be a good news for Afghanistan and other associate and affiliate teams so that proper qualification rounds are held for at least a couple of the places.

Hamid Hassan took a 5 wicket haul including a hat-trick for MCC as he finished with 5/17 in his stipulated four overs in the second semi-final of Emirates Airline Twenty20 against Nottinghamshire. Notts edged past MCC in the close game and later went on to win the tournament but Hassan’s performance was the limelight of the match. Hassan’s compatriot Mohammad Nabi also made a quickfire 26 runs from just 15 balls, including two sixes and bowled four wicketless overs for 30 runs in the defeat. The performance of Hassan and Nabi even impressed the Indian legend and fifth highest runs scorer in the history of ODI cricket Sourav Ganguly who was captaining the MCC side. As per Lords’ website Ganguly said:

I played alongside Hassan and Nabi at Lord’s last year and they looked very good then – eight months later and they have both improved.Hamid has improved in particular. He really looks an improved bowler and bowled very well today.

Ganguly also praised Afghanistan cricket talent and said

Hassan and Nabi are examples of the talent which is out there – who, given the right opportunities, can help to develop the world game – it is not always about a Tendulkar, Lara or a Ganguly.

He also praised MCC for working for their work towards cricket in Afghanistan.

Hamid Hassan impressed onlookers, teammates and opponents with his pace and aggression. Speaking after the T20 defeat, Hassan thanked MCC and spoke of the possibility of moving into the English county game. He said

It is such an honour to play for MCC. I am very thankful for the opportunities that I have been given by the Club so far.The experience that I have gained playing alongside the likes of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly over the past week has been fantastic and I really hope that I can continue to play for MCC in the future, and make the step into English county cricket. I haven’t had a chance to test my skills consistently at this level yet, but I think I would have a lot to offer to a county side.

Hope that he gets his opportunity in English county cricket very soon and Afghanistan get more top level cricket against good teams so that he can showcase his talent at the big stage more often.

You can find the full article about the same here:

http://www.lords.org/latest-news/news-archive/ganguly-praises-mccs-afghan-work,1975,NS.html

You can also check the match scorecard here:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/506405.html

India defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup to become the new World Champions. As many of you know might know, I am an Indian and this is a historic moment for all of us Indians as we have been able to win the coveted trophy after a gap of 28 years. We were the first country to break the winning record of the West Indies when we won in 1983. And now after a gap of 28 years, we have again broken the winning record of Australia who won the last 3 world cups. But this World Cup win is more special because it was a lot more convincing as we went in as favorites and also emerged as winners. This is also special because this is probably the last World Cup for the proud son of India and perhaps the best batsman ever to have played the game of cricket in Sachin Tendulkar. The joy of winning the World Cup is overwhelming for us and cannot be expressed in words in this great nation where cricket is very nearly a religion which every Indian follows.

Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat. But India’s best bowler and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan bowled three consecutive maiden overs to throttle the Sri Lankan run rate completely. He then got Upul Tharanga off the first ball of his fourth over given India the first breakthrough. After Zak’s spell Sri Lanka recovered a bit though they kept on losing wickets regularly until Mahela Jayawardene played a brilliant knock of 103 runs off 88 balls to guide the Lankans to a very competitive total of 274 runs in their stipulated 50 overs. In reply, India came to bat but lost both the openers in Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag in just 6.1 overs with 31 runs on board. But we proved why we deserve to win as Gautam Gambhir and Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored 97 runs and 91 runs respectively to guide India to the target with 10 balls to spare. The brilliant Indian captain Dhoni was awarded the Man of the Match for his important knock in the crucial match while Yuvraj Singh was awarded the Player of the Tournament for his brilliant all round performance with both the bat and ball. We won convincingly and defeated the best teams in Australia in the quarter finals, Pakistan in the semi finals and Sri Lanka in the finals to thump our authority and to silence all the critics of the Indian team. We are already the no.1 test side in the world and hopefully we can start world domination soon as Australia did in the previous decade.

ICC World Cup 2011 has been very good and even teams like Afghanistan can take inspiration from the likes of Ireland who have gained the respect of all cricket fans through their great performance. Nobody gave much importance to Ireland at the start of the World Cup but they defeated the likes of England and gave tough competition to every opposition they faced. They were not just another minnow anymore but were looked upon with respect by cricket fans all over the world. Afghanistan can also draw inspiration from Ireland
s performances and try even harder to become a very good team till the next World Cup so that they can also make their presence felt on that stage. Before that there is also the 2012 T20 World Cup where Afghanistan will hopefully give a much better performance and give tough competition to other oppositions.

Afghanistan national cricket team players Hamid Hassan and Mohammad Nabi have been selected by MCC to play on behalf of MCC for the curtain raiser of the English county season against current champion Nottinghamshire on March 27 – March 31. They also play for the MCC in the Twenty20 side as they take on Nottinghamshire, Durham, Sussex and a select Fly Emirates side, in the Emirates Airline Twenty20 Trophy on 1 April. Hassan and Nabi will be playing with legends such as Rahul Dravid from India who is the top star in the MCC champion county team. In the Twenty20 side they will play alongside former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly who would also lead the Twenty20 team. All the matches will take place in Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi and the four day first class fixture will once again be played under floodlights with a pink ball and white clothing as MCC furthers its investigation into the possibility of day-night Tests. Australia international Chris Rogers, who also plays for Middlesex, will captain the side in the four day match which will also include England wicketkeeper Steven Davies.

UPDATE:

Here is the complete scorecard of the test match.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2011/engine/match/490121.html

MCC defeated Nottinghamshire by 174 runs and Hamid Hassan took 7 wickets and Nabi 2 wickets.

Another chapter was added to the amazing story of Afghanistan cricket as they won the Intercontinental Cup in Dubai. After two days of twists and turns Afghanistan surged ahead on the third day, winning comfortably by seven wickets over Scotland.

Scotland began the day on 64-6 with an 105-run lead, but they were quickly shot out in a hostile spell of bowling from Hamid Hassan and Mirwais Ashraf. Afghanistan sledged the Scottish batsmen relentlessly and the intimidatory tactic seemed to work. Scotland only added 18 to their overnight score as they were bowled out for 82, setting the Afghans 125 for victory. Hassan and Ashraf both finished with 3 wickets.

Scotland didn’t give up though, and they were reward with Karim Sadiq wicket for just 7. However, Shabir Noori and Mohammad Shahzad were both determined to play their shots, meaning the pressure was easily released. Noori departed for 35 just after lunch but Shahzad made sure there was to be no collapse as he led Afghanistan to the win and the trophy, finishing unbeaten on 56 in an innings containing 7 fours.

When Shahzad hit the winning runs, a drive through the off-side, his team-mates ran on to the pitch to start the wild celebrations.

It was a deserved triumph for Afghanistan, having been undefeated through the league stage, winning all but one of their games. Furthermore, it is a remarkable achievement for a side who had never played first-class cricket together before this tournament started.

All the players contributed throughout a long campaign, with Hassan and Shahzad being the standouts. Hassan was the leading wicket-taker in the competition, with 43 wickets at an average of 19.18, including 5 five-wickets hauls and 2 ten-wicket hauls. Shahzad scored 802 runs, including his 214 not out against Canada, with an average of 80.20, the most runs by any batsmen in the tournament.

Credit should go to former coach Kabir Khan for helping the players adapt to the challenges of the longest and toughest format of the game. New coach Rashid Latif should also be praised for building on Khan’s good work.

The trophy was a fitting end to an extraordinary year for Afghanistan cricket.

Scotland took a surprise first innings lead of 41, but Afghanistan’s bowlers fought back to leave Scotland 64-6 at close of play of the 2nd day of the Intercontinental Cup final in Dubai. Scotland lead by 105 runs with 4 wickets in hand with the game poised to go either way.

Starting the day on 18-1, Afghanistan started aggressively but the Scots regularly chipped away, taking three wickets in the morning session. In the afternoon session Nowroz Mangal and Asghar Stanikzai looked in control but a stunning collapse saw the Afghans lose their final six wickets for just 39 runs. Spinner Majid Haq was the pick of the bowlers with 3-49, while Mangal top-scored with an innings of 56 which contained 9 fours. 

Once again, though, Afghanistan’s bowlers tore through Scotland’s top-order. Samiullah Shenwari, in a brilliant spell of leg-spin bowling, took 3-15 in just 14 overs, and Hamid Hassan took two wickets, including the centurion from the first innings Neil McCallum for a duck and on the final ball of the day he dismissed Matthew Parker also for a duck.

With Scotland 64-6 and only leading by 105, Afghanistan were happy with the day’s proceedings.

“It was a good day for us as the captain and coach put me in to bowl and get the match back for us which I think I helped to do,” said Shenwari. “I just think the spin worked for me today, I had to work a little but I managed to pitch it just right and the ball turned for the wicket. I hope that tomorrow I can take two more and make it five.”

After two days of exciting cricket and fluctuating fortunes the IntercontinentalCup final is expected to finish tomorrow. With the game so evenly balanced a lot will depend on whether the Afghan batsmen can back up their bowlers’ good work andchase down what ever Scotland set them.

Afghanistan reduced Scotland to 98-6 before a century from Neil McCallum brought his side back into the game on the opening day of the Intercontinental Cup final in Dubai. Scotland were eventually bowled out for 212, and they took a wicket before close of the play as Afghanistan finished on 18/1, trailing by 194 runs.

Scotland won the toss and predictably opted to bat first but they were soon in trouble as Shapoor Zardan and Hamid Hassan combined to take out the Scots’ top three batsmen for just 19 runs.

Mirwais Ashraf then entered the fray ripping through the middle order, and when Zardan and Hassan chipped in again Scotland were looking at a double figure first ininngs score.

However, an 107-run partnership between McCallum and wicket-keeper Simon Smith, who patiently accumulated 36 off 115 balls, lifted Scotland to a respectable score of 212. McCallum ended up unbeaten on 104 off 221 balls with 17 fours, while the star for Afghanistan was once again Hamid Hassan as he picked up excellent figures of 5-43.

Afghanistan suffered a blow before the close when Shabir Noori was defeated by an inswinging yorker from Matthew Parker. On a flat batting track, though, this was without doubt Afghanistan’s day.