West Indies no match for Afghan spin

From before a ball was bowled in the three-match T20 International series between hosts Afghanistan and the West Indies, spin was the talk of the town, and the West Indies got a first-hand look at what they will be up against for the remainder of the series and the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup.

The regional side, chasing an imposing 182 for victory, managed to get to 143 for nine, to fall by 38 runs in the opening fixture in Dubai.

With as many as eight or so players unavailable for varying reasons, coach Daren Sammy handed a debut to Guyanese batter Quentin Sampson, who proved that he is not out of his depth at the international level.

After deciding to take the first strike, the Afghans got off to the worst possible start, as wicketkeeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz was run out off the first ball via a direct hit from Gudakesh Motie at mid-on.

Things looked even brighter for the regional side in the third over, as stand-in captain Brandon King snared a blinder at slip to remove Sedigullah Atal for two off Jayden Seales, with just 19 runs on the board.

Those smiles were quickly wiped off the faces of the Windies, as Ibrahim Zadran and Darwish Rasooli got stuck in and took the game away from the visitors.

The pair blasted their way to a 162-run third-wicket partnership, which was the highest in T20s for Afghanistan.

The visitors didn’t help themselves in the field either, putting down three catches in eight deliveries, with Motie, Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer the culprits.

Motie and Lewis dropped both batters when they were in their 70s in the same Seales over, while Hetmyer put down one off Shamar Joseph.

Rasooli fell off the last ball of the innings for 84, which came off 59 balls, with eight fours and two sixes.

Zadran, who was recording his 14th T20 half-century, was left not out on 87 from 56 balls with eight fours and three sixes.

The chase was always going to be tricky, and despite a fluent cover drive for four in the opening over from King, the right-hander would lose his leg stump on the fourth ball of the over to Mujeeb ur Rahman, to set the cat among the pigeons for the visitors.

Johnson Charles was keen not to get bogged down by the Afghan spinners, and he recorded a couple of lusty blows to push the score to 38 before Lewis gave his hand away, skying one off seamer Zair Rahman for four.

Four runs later, Charles was back in the pavilion, as he tried a cheeky shot and was struck in front off Mujeeb for 27.

In quick time, the West Indies limped from 42-3 to 50 for five, as captain Rashid Khan sent Hetmyer and Amir Jangoo packing.

Faced with a deep hole from which to dig, Sampson and Matthew Forde designed a brief recovery plan, which worked for the most part, as they took the score to 95.

Sampson faced 24 balls and hit two fours and two sixes in his top score of 30, but fell in the 15th over, going for one shot too many.

Forde also helped himself to a handy 25, as he and Gudakesh Motie took the Windies to 132 in the 18th over.

Both Forde and Motie (28) fell in that same over, and thus ended any chance of a successful Windies run chase.

Spinners Mujeeb, Khan, and Ahmed shared six wickets evenly, while seamer Ziaur Rahman snared three.

King said his team showed glimpses of some good cricket, but the overall picture was not good enough.

“When you look at this game and games to come in the World Cup, playing in subcontinental conditions, you are going to be up against some of the best spinners in the world, and it is something we have to improve on quickly.”