West Indies ended their this edition of World Cup campaign with a win over debutants Afghanistan, edging them by 23 runs. With no consequence to the tournament, the game was played with gusto & provided a lot of entertainment to the motley crowd at Leeds. Choosing to bat first, the former Champions, despite the early loss of Universe Boss Chris Gayle in the 6th over, batted with gumption to reach a good combative total of 311 for 6. Four of their brightest batting talent Shai Hope with 77, Evin Lewis with 58, Hetmyer with 39 & Nicholas Pooran with 58, expressed their willow with freedom, and then capt Holder too chipped in with a cameo of 45 runs & Braithwaite hit 14 off just 4 deliveries - in all it was a near full house contribution for the Windies.
The target would always be steep for Afghanistan, but they too came out all guns blazing - after losing capt Gulbadin in the 2nd over, Rahmat Shah & Ikram took the battle to the opponents with an enterprising 133 runs partnership, their highest in this World Cup. Rahmat scored a pleasing 62, while Ikram missed his century, getting out at 86. Zadran with 31 & Asghar with 40 carried the fight further, but the asking rate kept going beyond their reach. In the slog overs, tailender Shirzad threw his bat at almost everything & also connected with power to 25 runs, before getting caught to a spectacular catch by Allen running behind at covers in the last ball of the match.
The Windies entertained the crowd with their on field antics & acrobatics, while Afghanistan players too contributed to the swagger.
For West Indies, touted by many as the dark horse for this tournament, had begun their campaign in style, demolishing Pakistan with some fearsome pace attack, but after that the zing fizzled, as they lost matches inexplicably & then today won their concluding game.
Afghanistan would take back a lot of learnings & hopefully come back stronger in future - they have the talent, & with experience, they will be competitive ahead.
For Chris Gayle, the Universe Boos, this was the last World Cup match, & his antics along with his batting would be sorely missed.
The target would always be steep for Afghanistan, but they too came out all guns blazing - after losing capt Gulbadin in the 2nd over, Rahmat Shah & Ikram took the battle to the opponents with an enterprising 133 runs partnership, their highest in this World Cup. Rahmat scored a pleasing 62, while Ikram missed his century, getting out at 86. Zadran with 31 & Asghar with 40 carried the fight further, but the asking rate kept going beyond their reach. In the slog overs, tailender Shirzad threw his bat at almost everything & also connected with power to 25 runs, before getting caught to a spectacular catch by Allen running behind at covers in the last ball of the match.
The Windies entertained the crowd with their on field antics & acrobatics, while Afghanistan players too contributed to the swagger.
For West Indies, touted by many as the dark horse for this tournament, had begun their campaign in style, demolishing Pakistan with some fearsome pace attack, but after that the zing fizzled, as they lost matches inexplicably & then today won their concluding game.
Afghanistan would take back a lot of learnings & hopefully come back stronger in future - they have the talent, & with experience, they will be competitive ahead.
For Chris Gayle, the Universe Boos, this was the last World Cup match, & his antics along with his batting would be sorely missed.
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