NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Afghanistan lost their second successive World Cup game on Wednesday after an eight-wicket defeat by India but coach Jonathan Trott says they are making progress and have got to grips with conditions in Delhi where they play England next.
Afghanistan, who lost their tournament opener to Bangladesh in a low-scoring encounter, won the toss and batted first again, posting a total of 272-8 in 50 overs before a century from Rohit Sharma helped the hosts to a comfortable victory.
Trott said it was a brave decision to bat first but admitted they were well short on a “350-360 wicket”.
“We thought it was the right decision to bat first, all the results pointed towards batting first as a bit of an advantage with the fact that the outfield is sort of sprayed and there’s not much dew,” he told reporters.
“We thought our spinners could come into the match towards the end on a wicket that we thought might keep a little bit low in spin. But credit to India and they played really well.”
Trott said his players would have benefited from having the match at the same venue where they play defending champions England on Sunday.
“So a good run out for our boys, a good lesson in how to play cricket here in Delhi and look forward to the England game,” he added.
Afghanistan are playing at their third World Cup and have now lost 16 of their 17 matches, their only victory coming against Scotland in 2015.
But Trott said there were encouraging signs, especially when the middle order stepped up at 63-3 with Afghan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (80) and all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai (62) sharing a 121-run stand.
“Azmat played really well, stepping up to number five and showing the talent and the pedigree that he’s got as an all-rounder,” Trott said.
“There are parts of the game we got right and there’s parts of the game that we need to get better if we want to compete against sides like India and England.
“So those are the things we’re looking to get right going forward and get ready for England.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
