The West Indies concluded the group stage with four straight victories as they displayed their all-around strength by crushing Afghanistan by a commanding 104-run scoreline. Nicholas Pooran continued to swing for the fences after a record PowerPlay, as his 58-ball 93 put the West Indies up for a big 200+ score. Then, in the face of a high pursuit, Afghanistan fell apart.
Where was the game won?
Afghanistan lost because of their surrender in the middle overs, despite the fact that the West Indies scored more than twice as much as they did in the PowerPlay. Afghanistan even managed to score one extra run at this time than the West Indies, but the disparity in wickets was significant.
West Indies
PowerPlay: Hosts go hell for leather
Phase score – 92/1 [RR: 15.34, 4s/6s: 13/3]
The hosts woke up and decided to go all out in the first half of these innings, hitting nearly half the deliveries for four or six. Brandon King started the assault with a full ball from Fazalhaq Farooqi that he clipped past midwicket for a four. After dismissing him in the second over for a free-hit ball, Azmatullah Omarzai was badly damaged by Nicholas Pooran in his following over, which lasted 36 runs and featured three sixes, three fours, five wides, and an uncountable dismissal. West Indies reached far over 50 in just the fourth test, mostly due to this frenzied over. In perfect batting conditions, Pooran and Johnson Charles just kept hammering over the boundary. The sixth PowerPlay over was the quietest bowled by Naveen-ul-Haq, who conceded seven runs in it. In spite of this, WI finished with the greatest PowerPlay score in T20 World Cup history, surpassing the record of 91/1 set by Netherlands versus Ireland in Sylhet in 2014.
Middle-overs: AFG slow the scoring down with spin
Phase score – 56/2 [RR: 6.23, 4s/6s: 1/2]
With a slower over to interrupt Charles’s attack in the eighth over, Naveen gave Afghanistan some more reprieve. The first player took a quick shot and eventually chipped the ball to Gulbadin Naib, who made a quick grab at cover. Afghanistan lost just 21 in four overs following the PowerPlay, battling back after the wicket thanks to calm overs from Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed. In an attempt to slow down the West Indies even more, Rashid sent in Mohammad Nabi. However, Shai Hope took advantage of his favourable match-up (off-spinner) by hitting him for two sixes over deep mid-wicket. Gulbadin Naib, who began with a cutter and tricked Hope into a fake shot, was Rashid’s instant replacement.
Death overs: Pooran falls two short of ton
Phase score – 70/2 [RR: 14.00, 4s/6s: 3/7]
When Afghanistan clawed back in the middle overs, Pooran was starved off the strike, but in the final overs, the left-hander strengthened the West Indies’ advantage. When he went after Rashid in the eighteenth over, striking him for three sixes and a four, he sent West Indies’ essay into overdrive.
Before Pooran set himself poised for a three-figure score in the 20th over, West Indies crossed the 200-run threshold in the 19th. On the opening delivery, he took advantage of Naveen’s shift in speed to drive a six down the ground and then another massive one over deep midwicket. Pooran made a dive to finish two runs, but an amazing direct hit from deep cover by Azmatullah Omarzai caught him short of his ground, and he was agonizingly short of a century. He returned to score a 53-ball 98, and West Indies’ total of 218 for 5 was achieved.
Afghanistan
PowerPlay: Early exit for Gurbaz; Ibrahim pushes the chase ahead
Phase score – 45/1 [RR: 7.50, 4s/6s: 6/1]
Afghanistan’s finest batsman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, miscued a ball straight to Andre Russell at mid-on in the opening over from Akeal Hosein, putting them behind early in their mammoth chase. Ibrahim Zadran, who grabbed chances against Hosein to knock two fours off him in the fifth over and targeted the leg side fence against Alzarri Joseph in the sixth, gave the wicket and the ensuing sluggish progress in the PowerPlay a late push. In the first six overs, Zadran struck five of Afghanistan’s six fours and tonked the lone six.
Brief Scores: West Indies 218/5 (Nicholas Pooran 98, Johnson Charles 43; Gubadin Naib 2-14) beat Afghanistan 114 in 16.2 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 38; Obed McCoy 3-14, Akeal Hosein 2-21, Gudakesh Motie 2-28) by 104 runs
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