CWC 2015: Rohit Century And Rahane Blast Hit Afghanistan for 364

Rohit Sharma’s 150 underpinned India’s surge to 364 for 5 against Afghanistan in the World Cup warm-up match at the Adelaide Oval, allowing MS Dhoni’s team the thought of winning their first match of the tour.

Afghanistan’s opening bowlers Hamid Hassan and Dawlat Zadran each bowled strong spells with the new ball, claiming the early wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli. But from an uncertain 16 for 2, Rohit and Suresh Raina forged a restorative partnership of 158, and Ajinkya Rahane provided further acceleration in the later overs.

Hamid and Dawlat were each more expensive when they returned later in the innings, and none of Afghanistan’s other bowlers were able to keep things tight, though Shapoor Zadran gained some hint of reverse swing late in the innings on the same pitch used for India’s heavy loss to Australia on Sunday.

The Indians are seeking their first win since arriving in Australia in November, something Afghanistan have already achieved twice, albeit against club teams in Perth. Both sides are using more than 11 players in the fixture, which does not carry ODI or List A status.

Batting first on a surface ideal for batting, India made a diffident start in the face of testing early work from the highly regarded Hamid, who had Dhawan dragging on and nearly claimed Kohli’s outside edge in the same over. Dawlat lacks Hamid’s pace and bustle, but was still able to swerve a full delivery enough to have Kohli edging behind for only 5.

Rohit took his time to get going but was soon unfurling a handsome array of strokes, helped by Raina’s rotation of the strike – their left and right-hand combination caused trouble for the Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi and his bowlers as they kept having to adjust lines and fields.

Raina’s exit brought Rahane to the crease, and another strong partnership ensued. Rohit looked good to add to his tally of double-centuries in 50-over matches before he skied Nabi to long-off, but Rahane carried on with aggression and intelligence to push India past 350.

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