Scoreboard
long on in the 25th over off legspinner Rashid Khan.
Shimron Hetmyer arrived to stroke a cavalier 39 from 31 balls in a 65-run stand with Hope, as he tried to raise the scoring rate which languished at just over four-runs-per-over at the halfway mark of the innings.
The left-hander had hammered three fours and a pair of sixes when he pulled Dawlat to short mid-wicket in the 35th over at 174 for three.
Seventeen balls later, Hope hoisted off-spinner Mohammad Nabi to deep mid-wicket in an attempt to sustain the tempo, as West Indies lost two quick wickets for 18 runs.
In need of a real jump start at 200 for four at the start of the 40th over, West Indies got it through Pooran and captain Jason Holder (45), the pair putting on an entertaining 105 runs for the fifth wicket which allowed their side to gather 111 runs from the last 10 overs.
Pooran, on the back of a maiden international hundred on Monday, lashed six fours and a six off 43 deliveries while Holder punched a four and four sixes in a cameo 34-ball innings.
Both fell in the final over with West Indies just short of the 300run mark but Brathwaite (14 not out) blasted two fours and a six off the last three balls of the innings to leave the winless Afghans with a daunting run chase.
Roach then put West Indies firmly on top when he had captain Gulbadin Naib caught at forward WEST INDIES
C Gayle c wkp Ikram Ali khil b Dawlat Zadran
E Lewis c Mohammad Nabi
Rashid Khan
+S Hope c Rashid Khan b Mohammad Nabi
S Hetmyer c sub (Noor Ali Zadran) b Dawlat Zadran
N Pooran run out
*J Holder c Dawlat Zadran b Sayed Ahmad Shirzad
C Brathwaite not out
F Allen not out 0
Extras (lb4, w9) 13 TOTAL (6 wkts, 50 overs) 311 Did not bat: K Roach, S Cottrell, O Thomas.
Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Gayle, 5.3 overs), 2-109 (Lewis, 24.5), 3-174 (Hetmyer, 34.5), 4-192 (Hope, 37.4), 5-297 (Pooran, 49.1), 6-297 (Holder, 49.2)
Bowling: Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman 10-0-52-0 (w2), Dawlat Zadran 9-1-73-2 (w1), Sayed Shirzad 8-056-1, Gulbadin Naib 3-0-18-0, Mohammad Nabi 10-0-56-1, Rashid Khan 10-0-52-1 (w2). AFGHANISTAN
*Gulbadin Naib c Lewis b Roach 5 Rahmat Shah c Gayle b Brathwaite 62
square leg for five, tugging a short ball in the second over with as many runs on the board.
But Ikram and Rahmat came together to raise hopes of an Afghanistan victory in an attractive partnership helped significantly by the Windies ragged out-fielding.
The left-handed Ikram struck eight fours in his 93-ball stay at the crease, reaching his maiden international half-century with the second of two boundaries off left-arm spinner Fabian Allen in the 21st over. 7 58 77
39 58
45 14 +Ikram Ali Khil lbw b Gayle
Najibullah Zadran run out 31
Asghar Afghan c Holder b Brathwaite 40 Mohammad Nabi c Allen b Roach 2 Samiullah Shinwari c Hetmyer b Roach 6 Rashid Khan c Holder b Brathwaite 9 Dawlat Zadran c Cottrell b Brathwaite 1 Sayed Shirzad c Allen b Thomas 25 Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman not out 7
Extras (lb2, w10, nb2) 14 TOTAL (all out, 50 overs) 288 Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Gulbadin Naib, 1.3 overs), 2-138 (Rahmat Shah, 26.2), 3-189 (Ikram Ali Khil, 35.3), 4-194 (Najibullah Zadran, 35.5), 5201 (Nabi, 37.4), 6-227 (Samiullah Shinwari, 41.4), 7-244 (Asghar Afghan, 44.2), 8-255 (Dawlat Zadran, 45), 9-260 (Rashid Khan, 46.3), 10-288 (Sayed Shirzad, 50)
Bowling: Cottrell 7-0-43-0 (w3), Roach 10-2-373 (w1), Thomas 7-0-43-1, Holder 8-0-46-0 (w2, nb1), Allen 3-0-26-0, Brathwaite 9-0-63-4 (w3, nb1), Gayle 6-0-28-1 (w1).
Result: West Indies won by 23 runs.
Points: West Indies 2, Afghanistan 0. Man-of-the-Match: Shai Hope.
Toss: West Indies
Umpires: Nigel Llong, Chris Gaffaney; TV – Ian Gould.
Rahmat, meanwhile, notched 10 fours off 78 deliveries to account for his maiden World Cup half-century and 15th in ODIs.
Put down by Sheldon Cottrell in the deep off Brathwaite in the 25th over, Rahmat perished to the same bowler 14 balls later, caught by Gayle at short extra cover off a leading edge.
Ali Khil kept the Afghans’ hopes alive but once he missed a sweep at off-spinner Gayle and was lbw in the 36th over, things fell apart. In the same over,
Najibullah found himself short at the non-striker’s end attempting a second run and when the experienced Mohammad Nabi was taken at deep cover by Allen for two in the 38th over, Afghanistan were wobbling on 201 for five.
There was no easy wrap up for the Windies, however, as Asghar smashed four fours and a six and number 10 Sayed Shirzad, a pair of fours and sixes in a 17-ball 25 as Afghanistan went down fighting.