Player of the Match
Player of the Match

As Zubair says: "What if the catches had been taken? What if so many wides had not been bowled? Little more discipline would have taken them through,but a great fight nevertheless..Beware England."

It's been immensely entertaining stuff from Afghanistan. The new-ball bowlers tested India with their pace and bounce, and a much-hyped batting order could only reach 159, thanks to the run-machine Virat Kohli. The catching from Afghanistan was appalling though, putting down four (or was it five) chances. Afghanistan's batsmen may not have textbook technique, but merrily threw the bat around, and pulled off some breath-taking hits but Yuvraj's double-strike in the 12th over sucked the momentum out of the chase.

Arun: "Well played by Afghanistan. But the whole thing can be argued in another way, the fearless way to go with the match obviously helped them play better. India on the other hand, had to be careful to avoid getting embarrassed."

Presentation ceremony:
Nawroz Mangal: "It was a good game for the boys, we could have done better, shot selection was a bit poor, that was why we have lost the game. We could have done better in the field, but we are satisfied we restricted the mighty Indian batting to 160."

MS Dhoni: "This format balances both teams, if one of the opposition batsman or bowler have a great day, it could change the result. A good performance but not a great performance from us. There are a lot of areas we have to improve on to be honest. People talk a lot about five bowlers, but what matters is on the day how they bowl, whether they are a part-timer or a specialist."

Man of the Match is Virat Kohli: "Always good to get a start, good to start on a winning note. Always tough to play against a team with nothing to lose. They were in a situation where they could try a lot of things, we had to be more careful."

Here's Sid Monga's match report. There'll be more from our guys at the ground shortly. For the moment, though, that's it from us at ESPNcricinfo. Good night, and thanks for all the mails.

19.3
W
Balaji to Dawlat Zadran, OUT, game over, Balaji finishes it off with a yorker, Afghanistan lose but they have not been disgraced, the first match of the tournament which wasn't completely one-sided

Dawlat Zadran b Balaji 8 (9m 5b 2x4 0x6) SR: 160

19.2
W
Balaji to Gulbadin Naib, OUT, nine down now for Afghanistan, Naib tries to send the ball into orbit, sends it only as far as Raina at mid-off, it was a short ball from Balaji again

Gulbadin Naib c Raina b Balaji 5 (23m 14b 0x4 0x6) SR: 35.71

19.1
0
Balaji to Gulbadin Naib, no run, a bouncer to start, batsman looks to pull but can't connect

END OF OVER:
19 | 10 Runs | AFG: 136/8 (24 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 7.15, RRR: 24.00)

  • Dawlat Zadran8 (4b)
  • Gulbadin Naib5 (12b)
  • Irfan Pathan4-0-29-1
  • Lakshmipathy Balaji3-0-19-1
18.6
4
Pathan to Dawlat Zadran, FOUR, a slower ball, full and outside leg, the bastman skips away beyond leg stump and murders that to the midwicket boundary, 24 needed now off the final over
18.5
4
Pathan to Dawlat Zadran, FOUR, pitched up and that is crashed through extra cover, powerful hit that, 28 off 7 now
18.4
0
Pathan to Dawlat Zadran, no run, a bouncer from Irfan, scares the No. 10 batsman, who waves his bat at it and misses
18.3
1
Pathan to Gulbadin Naib, 1 run, top-edges that shortish ball, loops over the bowler's head, lands safely between mid-on and mid-off
18.2
0
Pathan to Gulbadin Naib, no run, a low full toss is sent towards sweeper cover, Naib declines the single, no the smartest move at this stage, especially when you have made 4 off 11

free-hit

18.2
1nb
Pathan to Gulbadin Naib, 1 no ball, Irfan oversteps, a short of length ball angling in, the batsman looks to hammer that to the leg side but mishits it

Shashi: "No matter who wins, Afganistan is the winner to me. They have fought their hearts out and played like the fearless pathans! India will have to think seriously about the rest of the matches. The competition only gets tougher from here."

18.1
0
Pathan to Gulbadin Naib, no run, shortish and outside off, looks to chop that over point and misses

END OF OVER:
18 | 7 Runs 1 Wkt | AFG: 126/8 (34 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 7.00, RRR: 17.00)

  • Dawlat Zadran0 (1b)
  • Gulbadin Naib4 (8b)
  • Lakshmipathy Balaji3-0-19-1
  • Ravichandran Ashwin4-0-20-2
17.6
0
Balaji to Dawlat Zadran, no run, looking for an adventurous shot, walking across the stumps and trying to help it to fine leg, he misses and the ball sails over middle stump
17.5
1
Balaji to Gulbadin Naib, 1 run, shortish ball is slapped towards deep square leg for a single

Sri Hari sent this a while ago: "Not a good time to be watching the game if you're dyslexic. Naib and Nabi are going to look like the same person."

17.4
W
Balaji to Gulbadin Naib, OUT, slow bouncer this time from Balaji, looking to pull again but misses, struck on the body, Najibullah has a hamstring problem and has been struggling to run, he sets off for a single, Naib wasn't interested which meant the hobbling Najibullah has to turn back and try make his ground, the throw from Dhoni is to the bowler, Balaji collects and breaks the stumps with his arm, early enough to beat the dive from Najibullah, after many replays, the umpires are convinced it is, Afghanistan lose their eighth

Najibullah Zadran run out 5 (7m 2b 1x4 0x6) SR: 250

17.3
0
Balaji to Gulbadin Naib, no run, there's the Balaji bouncer, the batsman looks to club that to the leg side, misses
17.2
1
Balaji to Najibullah Zadran, 1 run, worked towards sweeper cover for one
17.1
4
Balaji to Najibullah Zadran, FOUR, length ball angling across, an effortless hit towards sweeper cover, I was waiting to for the camera to pan out and show the fielder in the deep, there wasn't one, a nonchalant boundary
17.1
1w
Balaji to Najibullah Zadran, 1 wide, short and down the leg side, poor start from Balaji

END OF OVER:
17 | 3 Runs 1 Wkt | AFG: 119/7 (41 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 7.00, RRR: 13.66)

  • Gulbadin Naib3 (5b)
  • Najibullah Zadran0 (0b)
  • Ravichandran Ashwin4-0-20-2
  • Zaheer Khan3-0-32-0
16.6
0
Ashwin to Gulbadin Naib, no run, the carrom ball first up, watchfully defended by Gulbodin
16.5
W
Ashwin to Mohammad Nabi, OUT, Ashwin has got the dangerman, he pauses an eternity before delivering, waiting to see what the batsman will do, Nabi charges out to meet the delivery, looks to hammer it but edges it, loops towards mid-off where Rohit awaits

Mohammad Nabi c Sharma b Ashwin 31 (23m 17b 2x4 2x6) SR: 182.35

16.4
1
Ashwin to Gulbadin Naib, 1 run, swings this one towards deep midwicket
16.3
0
Ashwin to Gulbadin Naib, no run, short and down the leg side, batsman swings and misses, off the pads and past Dhoni

Afghanistan 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st26Nawroz MangalMohammad Shahzad
2nd26Nawroz MangalKarim Sadiq
3rd23Karim SadiqAsghar Stanikzai
4th0Mohammad NabiAsghar Stanikzai
5th1Mohammad NabiSamiullah Shinwari
6th24Mohammad NabiShafiqullah
7th19Mohammad NabiGulbadin Naib
8th6Gulbadin NaibNajibullah Zadran
9th11Gulbadin NaibDawlat Zadran
10th0Shapoor ZadranDawlat Zadran

ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Group 1
TeamMWLPTNRR
SL33060.998
WI3214-0.375
ENG3122-0.397
NZ3030-0.169
Group 2
TeamMWLPTNRR
AUS32140.464
PAK32140.273
IND3214-0.274
SA3030-0.421
Group A
TeamMWLPTNRR
IND22042.825
ENG21120.65
AFG2020-3.475
Group B
TeamMWLPTNRR
AUS22042.184
WI2011-1.855
IRE2011-2.092
Group C
TeamMWLPTNRR
SA22043.598
SL21121.852
ZIM2020-3.624
Group D
TeamMWLPTNRR
PAK22040.706
NZ21121.15
BAN2020-1.868