Sloppy Windies lose to Afghanistan
SLOPPY WEST Indies were stunned by Afghanistan for the second time in the ICC World Cup qualifiers as the Caribbean side slumped to a shock three-wicket defeat in their opening match of the allimportant Super Sixes yesterday.
The form team of the tournament, f ollowing t heir unbeaten campaign i n the preliminaries, West Indies could only muster an inadequate 197 for eight off their 50 overs after electing to bat first at Harare Sports Club.
Shai Hope top-scored with a painstaking 43 off 94 balls without a single boundary, while veteran Marlon Samuels chipped in with 36, captain Jason Holder, 28, and opener Evin Lewis, 27.
Sixteen-year-old off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, handed the new ball, admirably l ed the attack with three for 33 to claim Man-of-the -Match honours, while Mohammad Nabi, also an off-spinner, ended with two for 43.
Having stumbled i nto the second round with j ust one victory in the preliminaries but with a win over the Windies in the official warm-ups, Afghanistan put aside their struggles to chase down their target with 14 balls remaining in the contest.
HURT CHANCES
Rahmat Shah struck a composed 68 to spearhead the run chase, while Mohammad Nabi completed a solid all-round performance with 31, but West Indies hurt themselves in the field with as many as four dropped catches.
Pacer Holder finished with three for 39 while debutant 20- year-old seamer Keemo Paul picked up two for 29.
The defeat left West Indies second in the standings, one point behind leaders Scotland on five and one ahead of hosts Zimbabwe in third place, with the two top following the full complement of matches advancing to the final and securing the remaining two berths at next year’s World Cup in England.
West Indies struck early to hurt the Afghan run chase, removing Javed Ahmadi (1) and Mohammad Shahzad (8) with just 17 runs on the board in the fifth over.
But Rahmat put Aghanistan in command, pioneering a 66-run, third-wicket stand with Samiullah Shenwari (27) and adding a further 49 for the fourth with Mohammad Nabi.
Dropped on 44 in the 32nd over by Rovman Powell on the follow-through, Rahmat went on to strike five fours and a six in a 109-ball stay at the crease.
Shenwari, meanwhile, put down on 19 in the 15th over by Gayle at slip off left-arm spinner Nikita Miller, faced 51 balls and counted two fours, before falling to the same combination in the 21st over.
Mohammad Nabi, who survived a straightforward chance to wicketkeeper Hope off Paul, perished in the 36th over to a catch by Hetmyer at square leg off Holder, leading to a slide, which saw three wickets tumble for 36 runs.
With the game in the balance and 16 needed for victory off 27 balls, Powell put down captain Rashid Khan (13 not out) on five at third man off seamer Carlos Brathwaite in the 46th over, and the 19-year-old made the most of the reprieve to see his side home.