Shahzad, spinners hand Afghanistan 14-run win
Afghanistan stretched their T20I record against Scotland to 6-0 courtesy a 14-run win was facilitated by Mohammad Shahzad and a spin-heavy attack that helped them defend 170
Afghanistan stretched their T20I record against Scotland to 6-0 courtesy a 14-run win was facilitated by Mohammad Shahzad and a spin-heavy attack that helped them defend 170
Commentator: Shashank Kishore
That brings us to the end of our coverage on Day 1 of the World T20. Plenty to come in from our correspondents at the venue. Do watch out for that. Don't forget to join us tomorrow. Until then, it's goodbye from all of us here at the commentary desk.
Asghar Stanikzai: We started well with the bat today, which was very good. We were happy with the total because these are big boundaries. The wicket was a slow one as it helped spin.
Preston Mommsen: We had a great start, but lost a couple of wickets at crucial times. We couldn't keep the foot on the accelerator and stay ahead. I think if we had kept them down to 10-15 less in the first half, it would have been a good reflection of our effort. We also need to look at that middle period where their spinners kept the runs down. Our opening stand was brilliant, credit to them for carrying on even after the Powerplay. Unfortunately, one of them couldn't get a big one.
Venkat: "Today, both the chasing teams fell short by exactly 14 runs."
Mohammad Shahzad is the Player of the Match for his enterprising half-century: I'm feeling very good that we've managed to win this one. We learnt a lot looking at how the surface behaved. In the first game, it was good, but it slowed down in the second game.
10:55pm Make that 6-0 for Afghanistan in T20Is but have been made to work really hard for this one. In the end, experience has helped them prevail. Scotland's openers converted a challenging chase into a cruise before the spinners took control by choking the runs. Afghanistan's bowling at the death was mighty impressive, and as the wickets started to come, the fielding also lifted itself by several notches. Inzamam-ul-Haq still has a very serious look on his face, but there's little reason to believe he isn't delighted with this.
Munsey and Coetzer swept and reverse swept their way, but once Rashid broke through, it was a completely different story. But Scotland would take a lot of heart from this one. The manner in which they ran the favourites close would give them a boost for the two matches coming up. But it's hard to not feel for them. Had a good chance, before they saw it slipping away courtesy a few poor shots that altered the course of the game.
Leaving out two of your main pace bowlers for the opening match of a tournament is a brave move, but Afghanistan had read the pitch perfectly against Scotland
Afghanistan stretched their T20I record against Scotland to 6-0 courtesy a 14-run win was facilitated by Mohammad Shahzad and a spin-heavy attack that helped them defend 170
Super 10 Group 1 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
WI | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0.359 |
ENG | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0.145 |
SA | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.651 |
SL | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -0.461 |
AFG | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -0.715 |
Super 10 Group 2 | |||||
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
NZ | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1.9 |
IND | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | -0.305 |
AUS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.233 |
PAK | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -0.093 |
BAN | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -1.805 |
First Round Group A | |||||
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
BAN | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1.938 |
NED | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0.154 |
OMA | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -1.521 |
IRE | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -0.685 |
First Round Group B | |||||
Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
AFG | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1.54 |
ZIM | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -0.567 |
SCOT | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -0.132 |
HKG | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -1.017 |