West Indies snap reckless Afghanistan’s winning streak

Cricket365
June 3, 2017

Afghanistan started their tour of the West Indies with a six wicket loss in the first T20I ending an 11-match winning streak.

The tourists could only post 110 all out but it could have been worse if not for Rashid Khan and number ten Amir Hamza.

The pair put on 36 for the ninth wicket to pull Afghanistan from 58 for 8 to 94 for 9 with Rashid registering the top score of the innings with his 33 while Hamza managed 21.

Sunil Narine took 3 for 13 to end as the pick of the West Indies bowlers as each of the five men who turned their arm over got among the wickets.

The West Indies adopted a more measured approach that Afghanistan and it bore dividends as a series of decent partnerships saw them home comfortably.

The experience of Marlon Samuels (35) made all the difference as he anchored the innings after openers Chadwick Walton (22) and Evin Lewis (26) got the hosts off to a great start.

Rashid accounted for Lendl Simmons (6) cheaply but with the modest target the West Indies remained calm and Jason Mohammed (18*) and Rovman Powell (2*) saw them over the line.

Man of the Match Sunil Narine said after the game: “It’s good to come back and play for West Indies. We didn’t relax, they batted smartly. With the technology now, every team knows what is coming so have to stay ahead.”

Windies skipper Carlos Brathwaite was happy with the clinical win saying: “Very professional with the ball with the first 15 overs. could have been better in the last five overs, but in cricket, you don’t roll teams over.

“There will always be a partnership. A couple of things we identified – the batting effort, could be more clinical, and the fielding – the overall ground fielding has improved.”

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