Afghanistan's bow in the World T20 against India was just how the script writers would have told it.
The plucky Afghans batted first and didn't embarrass themselves as they posted a total of 115 for eight off their 20 overs, with opener Noor Ali scoring an excellent fifty. Then India were made to work for a while before MS Dhoni eased them to victory with 31 balls remaining.
However, it was the brief innings of Noor Ali's fellow opener Karim Sadiq that I enjoyed most. It only lasted three balls and he was out for a duck, but it will be the most entertaining duck of the whole competition.
It went like this:
Ball one: Sadiq's first ball was the fifth ball of the match, but that didn't affect his confidence as he charged down the pitch to Praveen Kumar. The only problem was that he missed the ball by a mile and it passed through to Dhoni behind the stumps. Was it nerves, or did Sadiq think he was playing against Bermuda or the like in the ICC qualifying tournament?
Ball two: If it doesn't work once, try again seemed to be Sadiq's motto as he repeated the trick and tried to smash Kumar into the sea surrounding the ground in St Lucia. Again, all he connected with was fresh air and the ball passed through to a smiling Dhoni.
Ball three: Now facing Ashish Nehra, Sadiq was not prepared to take a step back. Despite the ball being deliberately short, Sadiq still took a step down the wicket and even though he was completely in the wrong position, tried to play a Ricky Ponting style pull shot. Again he failed to connect with the bat, but the ball hit his glove giving a bemused Dhoni an easy catch behind the stumps.
I cannot wait to see Sadiq try and repeat his approach against Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel and can only hope he lasts longer than three balls next time and really does stand and deliver. If he actually manages to hit the ball it could go into orbit.
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