AFG v WI 2019: Resurgent Afghanistan win decider to lift T20I series title

Afghanistan defeated West Indies by 29 runs on Sunday in Lucknow.

Afghanistan won the T20I series 2-1 | Twitter

With the three-match T20I series levelled 1-1, all eyes were on the decider in Lucknow on Sunday (November 17). Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bat hoping to pile on the runs and put West Indies under pressure later on. 

But as it turned out, Afghans got off to a poor start themselves, losing three cheap wickets before Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Asghar Afghan stitched a decent 50-run stand to bring some calm to the proceedings. 

Once Afghan fell on 24, though, it was upon Gurbaz to keep the innings going, which he did very well from his end, scoring a valiant half-century (79). 

The lower middle-order also tried to squeeze in as many as it can at the end as Afghanistan went past 150, eventually posting 156/8 in its 20 overs. 

For West Indies, Sheldon Cottrell (2/29), Kesrick Williams (2/31), Keemo Paul (2/26) got the breakthroughs while Jason Holder (0/26) delivered a miserly spell. 

In the run-chase, the Calypso Kings didn't get off to a good start either, losing three early wickets in the powerplay and giving Afghans just the moral boosted they needed at the beginning of the defense. 

And even though Evin Lewis (24) and Shai Hope (52) managed to resurrect the slump, they did so with painstakingly slow individual efforts, making it further difficult for the visitors to keep in touch with the asking rate. 

The rest of the batting unit failed to get going as well and West Indies could reach only as far as 127/7 in 20 overs, falling short by 29 runs. 

Naveen-ul-Haq (3/24) got the wickets for Afghanistan while Mujeeb Ur Rahman (1/9) and skipper Rashid Khan (1/18) put the breaks on with their economical spells. 

It was a series victory to savour for the Afghans having been whitewashed in the ODIs. They built up nicely towards the next year's T20 World Cup in Australia defeating the defending world champions. 

Brief scores: 

Afghanistan 156/8 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 79; Sheldon Cottrell 2/29) beat West Indies 127/7 in 20 overs (Shai Hope 52; Naveen-ul-Haq 3/24) by 29 runs. 

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 17 Nov, 2019

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