After scoring a mammoth 474 in the first innings, courtesy centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay, India managed to bowl out Afghanistan twice on Day 2 to register a comprehensive win in Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Following are the highlights from Day 2's play:
18:00 pm: That's a wrap with a fantastic gesture from Team India:
What a brilliant gesture from #TeamIndia to ask @ACBofficials players to pose with them with the Trophy. This has been more than just another Test match #SpiritofCricket #TheHistoricFirst #INDvAFG @Paytm pic.twitter.com/TxyEGVBOU8
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 15, 2018
17:32 pm: The Afghanistan cricket team was not expected to mount a challenge to the No. 1 Test team in the world but the batting would, nonetheless, dismay fans back home.
17:30 pm: The spinners have done a fantastic job for India with Jadeja claiming six wickets in the two Afghan innings while Ashwin bagging five.
17:25 pm: Wicket! Ravichandran Ashwin to to Wafadar, out bowled, Afghanistan all out. That is a big win by an innings and 262 runs for the hosts.
17:19 pm: Wicket! Ravindra Jadeja to Mujeeb Ur Rahman, out caught by Umesh Yadav. Afghanistan 98/9
17:04 pm: Wicket! Ishant Sharma to Yamin Ahmadzai, out bowled. There it is. The best of yorkers would be complexed. Afghanistan 84/8
16:50 pm: Wicket! Ravindra Jadeja to Rashid Khan, out bowled. Jadeja gets back to eating out middle-orders. Afghanistan 82/7
16:34 pm: Wicket! Ravindra Jadeja to Afsar Zazai out bowled. It's his typical ball quick, pitching on middle with playing down the wrong line as the ball straightens, just enough to rip out a pole off.
16:26 pm: Wicket! Ravindra Jadeja to Asghar Stanikzai out caught by Shikhar Dhawan.
15:23 pm: Wicket! Ishant Sharma to Rahmat Shah, out caught by Rahane. A soft, soft dismissal this. Ishant Sharma is now third among pacers in the list of leading wicket-takers for India in Tests. Afghanistan 24/4
15:14 pm: Wicket! Umesh Yadav to Mohammad Nabi, out LBW. India review against Nabi. The third umpire says fair delivery and three reds Nabi has gone for nought. Afghanistan 22/3
15:12 pm: no hat-trick for Umesh Yadav.
15:10 pm: Wicket! Umesh Yadav to Javed Ahmadi, out caught by Dhawan! Umesh Yadav on a hat-trick.
15:02 pm: Wicket! Umesh Yadav to Mohammad Shahzad out caught by Karthik, Shahzad goes hard with a straight bat and feathers an edge to the keeper. Afghanistan 13/1
14:45 pm: Mohammad Shahzad and Javed Ahmadi are at the crease. Mohammad Shahzad is on strike. Ishant Sharma will open the attack.
14:30 pm: India has enforced follow-on. Tea being taken as well.
14:22 pm: Wicket! Mujeeb out stumped by Dinesh Karthik off Jadeja's bowling. Afghanistan are bowled out for 109
14:15 pm: Wicket! Mohammad Nabi out caught by Ishant. Ashwin has his fourth wicket. Afghanistan 95/9
14:08 pm: Wicket! Ashwin to Yamin Ahmadzai out caught by Jadeja. Ahmadzai can't hold himself back as soon as he sees some flight but pays a heavy price for giving in to temptation. Afghanistan 88/8
13:44 pm: Wicket! The spinners are turning the screws on Afghanistan as Jadeja strikes after two wickets for Ashwin. Rashid Khan departs and his team in big trouble. Afghanistan 78/7
13:24 pm: Wicket! Afghan batsmen are tumbling like a pack of cards. This time it is Hashmatullah Shahidi who has to make the long way back as Ashwin strikes once again. Afghanistan 59/6
13:19 pm: Wicket! Out Bowled! Ashwin to Asghar Stanikzai A dream delivery from any off-spinner.
13:03 pm: Wicket! That's another one for Ishant. Middle stump gets uprooted as Afsar Zazai had no answer to the pacer's line and length. Afghanistan 35/4.
12:58 pm: Wicket! Umesh gets his first wicket, traps Rahmat Shah LBW. Afghanistan 35/3
12:50 pm: Afsar Zazai, right handed bat, comes to the crease.
12:42 pm: Wicket! Out Bowled! Nice ball by Ishant Sharma to Javed Ahmadi, pitching on a good length and seaming in sharply.
12:36 pm: Wicket! Mohammad Shahzad Run Out! Hardik, though, is too quick and does the old pickup-and-throw towards the non-striker's end. Nice though by Hardik Pandya.
12:27 pm: Shahzad has helped himself to two boundaries off Umesh. Both boundaries were off edges, however. The first coming off an outside edge while the second was from the inside edge.
12:22 pm: Afghanistan off to a brisk and confident start courtesy openers Mohammad Shahzad and Javed Ahmadi. While Shahzad is a veteran campaigner for Afghanistan and has played 69 ODIs and 63 T20Is, Ahmadi has seven fifties from his 39 ODIs - apart from his three T20I appearances.
For India, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma begin proceedings.
11:33 am: India bowled out for 474 in 104.5 over. The last man to get out is Ishant Sharma. He tried to sweep Rashid Khan but missed. The ball hit his pads and the Afghan players appealed which was upheld by the umpire. He scored eight runs off 13 balls with one four. Umesh Yadav remained not out on an entertaining 26 off 21 balls with two fours and the same number of sixes.
11:20 am: Umesh Yadav using the long handle to good effect, wallops pacer Wafadar for two sixes and a four in the 102nd over. Ishant Sharma too joins the fun and scores a four. India 463/9.
11:07 am: Hardik Pandya falls just three balls after Jadeja went back into the pavilion. Pandya tried to nudge Wafadar's ball over wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai. But ball comes back into him, kissed his gloves and Zazai takes an easy catch. Pandya scored 71 off 94 balls with 10 fours. India 440/9.
11:01 am: Mohammad Nabi gets Ravinder Jadeja out for his first Test wicket. Jadeja was starting to look good. He tried to loft Nabi over the long off boundary but found Rahmat Shah who took an easy catch. Jadeja had scored 20 runs off 31 balls with the help of one four and a six. India 436 for eight.
10:50 am: India up the scoring rate. Hardik Pandya reaches his fifty with a sweep off Mohammad Nabi which goes for a four. Ravinder Jadeja, too, has started to find the middle of the bat.
10:40 am: India reach the 400-run mark in the 95th over. Hardik Pandya taps the ball to the midwicket off Nabi and takes a single. Three balls later Ravinder Jadeja steps out and sends the ball over the long-on boundary for a six.
10:20 am: The 92nd overs is a maiden. Pacer Wafadar ensures Hardik Pandya fails to score off his six balls.
10:10 am: Hardik Pandya goes on the offensive, hits three fours off Rashid Khan's over. At the end of 89 overs, India are 389 for 7. Pandya is batting on 37 and Jadeja is still one 4.
10:02 am: First ball scare for Ravinder Jadeja. Yamin Ahmadzai's ball takes the outside edge of Jadeja's bat but wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai fails to latch on to the catch and the ball goes past the boundary for a four.
10:00 am: OUT! India lose their sixth wicket as Yamin Ahmadzai strikes again. R Ashwin is caught behind by wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai for 18. Ashwin faced 39 balls and hit one four in his innings.
9:30 am: Second day's play starts. R Ashwin and Hardik Pandya will carry forward the Indian innings.
The match started on a positive note for India as the openers took the Afghan bowlers to the cleaners with Dhawan, particularly, being extremely aggressive. Dhawan wrote his name in the record books by becoming the first Indian player to score a century before lunch on the first day of a Test. Afghanistan had no answer to Dhawan's strokeplay. His 107 in just 97 balls was a pure display of power and aggression while his partner Vijay took the more conventional route to score his century.
Vijay accumulated 105 runs in 153 balls and was the second Indian wicket to fall at 280. Afghanistan pegged India back after that and scalped the next five wickets in quick succession. From 280/2 at one stage, India were 334/6 when wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik departed for just four. In between KL Rahul (54), captain Ajinkya Rahane (10) and Cheteshwar Pujara (35) too were back in the pavilion as Afghanistan came back strongly in the last couple of hours.
The pick of Afghan bowlers was pacer Yamin Ahmadzai who sent back Dhawan and Rahul. He admitted that the team journey has been a "little stressful". "Well, this was a dream which has come true for our nation. It was enjoyable, but a little stressful. Nevertheless, playing against India, the number one team, was a good experience. Still there are four days to go and we will try to do our best. Getting a Test cap is the most important thing in cricketers' lives. It is same for me as well. I cannot express it in words. There was excitement when we walked onto the field, but also were nervous," Ahmadzai said at the post-match press conference.
