West Indies scored 218/5 in 20 overs, where as Afghanistan scored 114 in 16.2 overs.
So, finally West Indies beat Afghanistan by 104 runs.
West Indies flexed their all-round might to down Afghanistan by a massive 104-run margin and close out the group stage with four consecutive wins.
A record Power Play was followed by more aggressive batting from Nicholas Pooran, whose 58-ball 93 set up a massive 200-plus total for the West Indies.
Afghanistan crumbled in the face of a daunting chase.
Where was the game won?
West Indies scored more than double what Afghanistan managed in the Power Play, but it was Afghanistan’s capitulation in the middle overs that sealed their fate.
Despite scoring one more run than West Indies in this period, Afghanistan’s downfall was starkly highlighted by their loss of wickets.
| Parameters | West Indies | Afghanistan |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 56/2 | 57/7 |
| 4s/6s | 1 and 2 | 4 and 2 |
| RR | 6.23 | 6.33 |
West Indies
Power Play: Hosts go all out
Phase score – 92/1 [RR: 15.34, 4s/6s: 13/3]
Nearly half the deliveries in the opening phase of the innings were hit for either a four or six as the hosts came out aggressively.
The onslaught began on the first ball when Brandon King flicked a full ball from Fazalhaq Farooqi through midwicket for a four.
Azmatullah Omarzai cleaned him up in the second over but took a beating in his next as Nicholas Pooran carted him around in a 36-run over that included three sixes, three fours, five wides, and a dismissal that didn’t count because it came on a free-hit ball.
Thanks to this manic over, West Indies soared past 50 in just the fourth over.
Pooran and Johnson Charles kept hitting through the line in pristine batting conditions.
Naveen-ul-Haq bowled the quietest over of the Power Play in the sixth, giving away just 7 runs.
West Indies ended with the highest Power Play score in T20 World Cups, surpassing the previous best of 91/1 by the Netherlands against Ireland in Sylhet in 2014.
Middle-overs: Afghanistan slows down the scoring with spin
Phase score – 56/2 [RR: 6.23, 4s/6s: 1/2]
Naveen brought some respite for Afghanistan by ending Charles’s assault in the eighth over with a slower delivery that resulted in a catch at cover.
Afghanistan clawed their way back with quiet overs from Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed, conceding just 21 runs in four overs after the Power Play.
Rashid introduced Mohammad Nabi to slow West Indies further, but Shai Hope targeted him with two sixes over deep mid-wicket.
Rashid then replaced Nabi with Gulbadin Naib, who lured Hope into a false shot, resulting in another well-caught slog sweep at deep midwicket.
Death overs: Pooran falls two short of a ton
Phase score – 70/2 [RR: 14.00, 4s/6s: 3/7]
Pooran, starved of the strike in the middle overs, restored West Indies’ dominance in the death overs.
He turbocharged the innings by going after Rashid Khan in the 18th over, hitting him for three sixes and a four.
West Indies crossed the 200-run mark in the 19th over, setting Pooran up for a potential century.
However, an exceptional direct hit by Azmatullah Omarzai from deep cover caught Pooran short of his ground despite a dive, leaving him just two runs shy of a century.
He walked back for a 53-ball 98, and West Indies finished with 218 for 5.
Afghanistan
Power Play: Early exit for Gurbaz; Ibrahim pushes the chase ahead
Phase score – 45/1 [RR: 7.50, 4s/6s: 6/1]
Afghanistan faced an early setback as their best batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz mistimed a shot to mid-on in the first over.
Ibrahim Zadran later provided a late push in the Power Play by hitting two fours off Hosein in the fifth over and targeting Alzarri Joseph in the sixth, managing five of Afghanistan’s six fours and the only six in the first six overs.
Middle-overs: Afghanistan falls apart
Phase score – 57/7 [RR: 6.33, 4s/6s: 4/2]
Obed McCoy, playing his first game of the World Cup, made an immediate impact.
Replacing Romario Shepherd, McCoy derailed Afghanistan’s chase with three wickets in the middle overs.
Gudakesh Motie started the collapse by trapping Gulbadin Naib leg-before on the first ball of the seventh over.
McCoy then took over, dismissing Zadran with a full ball flicked to deep square leg and Najibullah Zadran with a short ball to deep point.
He also cleaned up Mohammad Nabi, leaving Afghanistan five down by the halfway stage.
Karim Janat briefly counter-attacked, but the chase continued to unravel with wickets from Hosein and Motie.
Death overs: West Indies wrap up a big win
Phase score – 12/2 [RR: 9.00, 4s/6s: 1/1]
It took just eight balls in the death overs to wrap up the win.
Alzarri Joseph bowled a bouncer too good for Naveen, and Andre Russell got Rashid to hole out to long-off, sealing a comprehensive victory for West Indies.
Leave a Reply