Australia edge Pakistan in warm-up tie as Rohit's Team India Trawel 3,400km for no reason
Even after covering 3,400 miles across the nation, India was defeated by storms of rain.
Australia beat Pakistan by 14 runs in a high-scoring World Cup warm-up on Tuesday. India, on the other hand, went 3,400 km from one end of the country to the other but lost because of heavy rain. In Hyderabad, Australia scored 351 runs in 50 overs, with Glenn Maxwell being especially harsh on Pakistan's bowlers.
Maxwell hit 77 off of 71 balls, with six sixes and four fours. Cameron Green had never lost when he hit 50, David Warner hit three sixes in 48, and Josh Inglis also made 48. Marnus Labuschagne scored 40 points after being called up late by the five-time World Cup champs.
Usama Mir, a leg-spinner from Pakistan, did a great job by getting Warner and Mitchell Marsh out for just 2 and 31 runs after they had put together 83 runs for the first wicket.
Shadab Khan, Mir's partner in leg spin, was pricey; his one wicket cost 69 runs. Pakistan lost their first warm-up game by five wickets to New Zealand. In response, they were out for 337 in the 48th over.
Captain Babar Azam hit a smooth 90 off 59 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes. He and Iftikhar Ahmed, who made 83 off 85 balls, put together a 144-run stand. Mohammad Nawaz scored 50, but Pakistan was not quite enough.
Sri Lanka was bowled out for 294 runs by Afghanistan in Guwahati, where Kusal Mendis made an amazing 158. They went on to lose by six wickets in a rain-soaked match.
Mendis scored his runs off of just 87 balls. He was captain for the day because Dasun Shanaka missed the last warm-up. He hit 19 fours and 9 sixes as Afghanistan failed to slow down. Only former captain Mohammad Nabi had a string of wins with 4-44.
When rain stopped play in the 21st over, Afghanistan was sitting pretty with 118-1. Then, the score was changed to 257 runs in 42 overs, and they easily reached the goal with 23 balls to spare.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the opener, hit 119 runs off of 92 balls, including eight fours and nine sixes. He and Rahmat Shah shared a second wicket stand of 212 runs. Rahmat hit 93 runs off of 82 balls, with 10 fours and 3 sixes.
At the same time, India's best cricket players travelled across the country 3,400 km (2,170 miles) to play a warm-up game that was called off before a ball was hit.
India was supposed to play the Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram, which is on the southern tip of India. However, it rained, and they had to keep their feet up.
Their game against reigning champions England on Saturday in the city of Guwahati in the northeast was also cancelled.
Three warm-up games had to be called off because of bad weather, and four others were hampered by rain, making teams and players angry before the World Cup starts on Thursday.
But the weather prediction for the rest of the week in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Dharamsala—where the first three days of the tournament will be held—is good: it will be sunny instead of rainy.
On Thursday, England will play New Zealand in the first game of the event at Ahmedabad, which has the biggest cricket stadium in the world. They play the Netherlands in Hyderabad on Friday, and then Afghanistan plays Bangladesh in Dharamsala on Saturday.