Australia won the match but Afghanistan won plenty of admirers before going down by 66 runs in their one-day international in Sharjah. Playing only their second ODI against an established side, Afghanistan restricted Michael Clarke's team to 272-8 before responding with 206 all out from 43.5 overs.
"It was a big occasion and we learnt a lot from the experience of playing Australia," Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal told reporters through an interpreter. "I'm satisfied with the performance of my team. We couldn't put runs on the board in the top order but Australia are a major team and they know how to win."
Clarke typified that know-how, scoring 75 from 94 balls after promoting himself to number three in the batting order having won the toss and opting to take first use of a pitch as hard as concrete and equally devoid of grass.
Clarke shared a second wicket stand of 131 in 28 overs with opener Matthew Wade, who also made 75, his highest score in ODIs, to help set the platform for Australia's match-winning total.
Later, the Australia captain leapt high to his left at midwicket to pull off a spectacular catch to remove Afghanistan's top-scorer Ashgar Stanizkai, who made 66 before becoming one of man-of-the-match Mitchell Starc's four wickets. "Afghanistan played quite well," Starc told reporters. "They put up a fight, surprised us with how well they fielded and they batted quite well too. It was a competitive match for us."
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