World Cup 2015: Ashwin steals show as India thrash UAE by 9 wickets

PERTH: It was the biggest mismatch of the World Cup. Some of the practice sessions India have had on this tour lasted longer than Saturday's match. The moment UAE chose to bat after winning the toss, everybody was left wondering how long the game would last.
Their fears came true as the UAE batsmen were out of their depth on the fast, bouncy WACA pitch against opponents who are in form and on fire.
In the end, India registered their biggest World Cup win in terms of balls remaining - chasing a target of 103, they won by nine wickets with 187 balls remaining - and their second-biggest win in ODIs.
UAE had promised to be competitive after running two previous opponents - Ireland and Zimbabwe - surprisingly close, but India were a different proposition.
UAE's performance on the biggest stage was humiliating as they barely managed to cross the 100-run mark. It was just a canter for India as they attained the target in 18.5 overs, losing only Shikhar Dhawan's wicket.
Rohit Sharma took the opportunity to get a decent knock under his belt, finishing unbeaten on 57 off 55 balls, with 10 fours and a six.
Kohli batted with haste, and along with Sharma took India home. Dhawan departed to a brilliant one-handed catch at point by Rohan Mustafa, the only high point of the day for UAE.
If the match was made to look a bit longer, it was only due to the mandatory dinner break of 45 minutes, when India were just 15 runs away from victory.
Had there been time for a couple of overs more, the game would have ended by 6 pm, the scheduled time for the completion of the first innings.
After the break, India required just 17 deliveries to complete the formality for India, the match turned out to be little more than a practice session, especially for the bowlers.
Umesh Yadav bowled a fierce spell that softened up the batsmen, making them hop and jump with awkward bounce. It was apparent the UAE batsmen had never encountered such a pitch.
They surrendered their wickets meekly, especially to spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Only two of their senior batsmen - Khurram Khan and Shaiman Anwar - got into double figures.
The rest just could not cope with the nagging line and length and the bounce Ashwin got from the pitch. Ashwin went on to get his best ODI bowling figures of 4-25 and was the only bowler in the match to complete his quota of 10 overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was included in place of an unfit Mohammed Shami, bowled five overs at brisk pace, showing no signs of the ankle injury which has laid him low. He was fairly economical, giving away 19 run in five overs.
But this was hardly a test for him and if Shami does not recover in time for the West Indies match on March 6, Bhuvneshwar will be up against the likes of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, who will offer a more apt test of his fitness levels.
The biggest cheers from the 8000-odd crowd was when the last UAE pair took the total past the 100-mark.