Australia vs Afghanistan, Only ODI at Sharjah, , Aug 25 2012 - Match Result

The four early wickets pegged Afghanistan back early but from there on we saw some fight from them. Nabi and Stanikzai were slow to start off but gradually opened up and would have had Australia a bit concerned at one point. But Nabi gave his wicket away and Australia tightened their grip during the batting Powerplay. Both teams will be reasonably happy with how things panned out, in tough conditions. We'll get you the details from the presentation in a bit.

Mitchell Starc is the Man of the Match: "It's a bit humid, quite sweaty, took a little bit of time to get accustomed to. It was quite sweaty, it was a bit hard to hold the ball, also with the dew. We all bowled quite well, we've been here for a couple of days to get used to the conditions. Afghanistan put up a good fight today. It's a bit different to play cricket this late."

Nowroz Mangal: "The players played very well. Australia is one of the best teams in the world. Our top order didn't click this time. The way the bowlers performed and the way we fielded, it was quite satisfactory and we proved we can compete with such big sides. We have learned a lot. This is a good preparation for the T20 World Cup. This was a better performance than we put up against Pakistan. I'd like to thank Cricket Australia for allowing us to play their team. We played the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and we'll rectify the errors we made then. It's a historic game. We are happy we have played the 200th game on this ground."

Michael Clarke: "After our trip to England, a very good performance. We've got three important games coming up, and tonight it was important to get off a good start. We've probably got areas to work on with both bat and ball. We coped pretty well with the heat. We had a good preparation. Mitch bowled very well, the ball got a little slippery there. Our batsmen deserve some credit as well. Nice to make some runs. Michael Hussey is an important player in this team. We have to be at our best against Pakistan, they know these conditions well."

There's a trophy for this one-off game and it's been handed to Michael Clarke. That's all from us here. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you when the Pakistan-Australia series begins. See ya. You can read the report for this match here.

Doherty to bowl

Shapoor Zadran's the new man

Sajith: "ICC should restructure match scheduling. It should do something to make sure emerging nations get fair share of international match experience before a world cup. Afghanistan justifies this need. Maybe on another day they would have beaten Australia."

Rahul: "The result may be a foregone conclusion, but the number of sixes conceded by Aussie bowlers is a worrying sign...they've got Pakistan next, and then the T20 WC. Being hit for sixes on slow pitches against a second tier side.....not good omens these for the coming months."

The tail showing some spunk as well, this stand is now worth 27. Doherty to bowl