West Indies [311/6] defeat Afghanistan [288] by 23 runs in the 42nd game of ICC World Cup 2019

[MenInG]

Afghanistan, who have been win-less at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 so far, despite displaying flashes of brilliance, will look to end their campaign on a high as they face West Indies in their last match on Thursday.

Overview:

Afghanistan v West Indies

Headingley, Leeds
2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, Match 42
Thursday, 04 July; 9.30am GMT, 10.30am local

It was a heart-break against Pakistan, much like it was against India, as the Gulbadin Naib-led side let the game drift away from their grasp at critical junctures. While the spinners have lived up to their reputation with consistent performances throughout the tournament, the fast bowlers and the batting unit have failed to contribute significantly to the team's cause.

Afghanistan will, however, be quietly confident as they take the field against West Indies - an opponent they have beaten thrice in four completed matches, including the 7-wicket triumph in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier final last year.

West Indies, much like Afghanistan have failed to produce an all-round performance, barring their opening match victory against Pakistan - their only success in this World Cup so far. While Sheldon Cottrell has been a star performer with the ball, the batsmen, despite some good individual performances have failed to put up a significant total due to the lack of partnerships.


Skipper Jason Holder will look to inspire his team to play with full intensity in their final game of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019.

Key Players:

Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan): The 18-year old has been Afghanistan's strike bowler with the new ball throughout the World Cup. Mujeeb, who had starred with the ball in the World Cup Qualifier final last year with figures of 4/43, will once again be Gulbadin's key weapon on Thursday.

Shai Hope (West Indies): The wicket-keeper batsman who came into the World Cup as the fourth ranked batsman in the MRF Tyers ICC ODI Batting Rankings, has managed to score only 197 runs in seven innings so far. Hope will look to shoulder the responsibility of holding the innings together, as his solid technique makes him a key batsman against a strong Afghanistan spin attack.

Conditions:

Early brightness will soon fade away as cloud thickens from the north. It would be a warmer day but could be breezy at times with moderate westerly winds. Batting might get difficult in the second innings, much like it did in the two previous games played at Headingley and hence toss could play a vital role.

Squads:

Afghanistan: Gulbadin Naib (c), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah (wk), Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Ikram Ali Khil

West Indies: Jason Holder (c), Chris Gayle, Kemar Roach, Darren Bravo, Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Shannon Gabriel, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Shimron Hetmyer, Fabian Allen, Oshane Thomas, Nicholas Pooran

https://www.cricketworldcup.com/news/en/1262995

 

[MenInG]

• This will be the fifth men’s ODI between Afghanistan and West Indies but the first in
the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
• Afghanistan have won three of their previous four completed men’s ODIs against
West Indies, including two matches at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in
Harare last year.
• West Indies are on a run of six consecutive men’s ODI defeats whilst Afghanistan are
enduring an even longer run having lost their last eight in this format.
• This will be a second men’s ODI match at Headingley for Afghanistan after losing to
Pakistan there in a last over thriller in their most recent World Cup fixture.
• West Indies have played five previous men’s ODIs at Headingley, losing three and
winning two of those matches with the most recent of those coming in 2004.
• West Indies have played one previous ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup match at
Headingley, a game against Australia in 1983 which they won by 101 runs and saw
Winston Davis record bowling figures of 7/51, one of just four 7-wicket hauls in the
history of the tournament.
• Najibullah Zadran is Afghanistan’s highest run scorer at ICC Cricket World Cup 2019,
scoring 199 so far (Hashmatullah Shahidi 197), having batted at number seven or
lower in each match.
• Nicholas Pooran scored a debut ODI century (118) in West Indies most recent fixture
(v Sri Lanka), it was the highest score for the Windies by any player at ICC Cricket
World Cup 2019 and the highest ever World Cup score by a number five for West
Indies.
• Chris Gayle is set to play his 295th ODI, equalling Brian Lara for joint-most caps in the
history of the format for the Windies; he also needs a knock of just 18 runs to eclipse
Lara (10,348) as the most prolific Windies’ run scorer in men’s ODI history.
• Gulbadin Naib and Mohammad Nabi have both taken nine wickets at the ICC
Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 so far, they need one more to equal the record for
most wickets by an Afghani at a single edition of the tournament (10 wickets –
Shapoor Zadran in 2015).

 

[MenInG]

Can Afghanistan stretch the Windies like they did Pakistan?

 

[MenInG]

West Indies have won the toss and have opted to bat

 

[MenInG]

 

[Sami92]

Expecting big innings from the big man Chris Gayle.

 

[Inswinging Yorker]

Hmmm I wonder if AFG can beat Windies..will be great.

 

[Mr.Q]

The least lucky team in this WC is Afghanistan.

 

[Amirforpresident]

Does someone know what Rashid Khan his figures are in this WC? Like what his average and sr is.

 

[Kianig89]

Empty handed IA

 

[Artaxerxes]

The least lucky team in this WC is Afghanistan.

Afghan team was hyped too much.Afghanistan has decent spinners but spinners alone will not win you every game.Over all Afghanistan is still a very weak team.However Afghanistan board thinks differently.It thinks Afghanistan is the best team in the world.

 

[Mr.Q]

Afghan team was hyped too much.Afghanistan has decent spinners but spinners alone will not win you every game.Over all Afghanistan is still a very weak team.However Afghanistan board thinks differently.It thinks Afghanistan is the best team in the world.

Their problem very clearly is their batting. The board probably judged their batting strength based on T20 cricket.
If they can get to a good score like 280 every match, they’ll beat many strong teams.

 

[MMHS]

The least lucky team in this WC is Afghanistan.

They are the luckiest team here to qualify for WC. No way AFGs should be in a WC in UK ahead of IRL & SCT, ZIM as well.

 

[Mr.Q]

They are the luckiest team here to qualify for WC. No way AFGs should be in a WC in UK ahead of IRL & SCT, ZIM as well.

They lost a couple of close matches. India and Pakistan were lucky to escape defeat. Ireland is better yeah. But I think AFG is improving as a team when you consider the very limited facilities they had in the past. There’s an attitude issue but I feel they’re one or two batsmen away from forming a good team.

 

[Amirforpresident]

Rashid Khan's stats are: 9 matches 6 wickets avg 69.33 eco. 5.79

 

[Artaxerxes]

Afghanistan need 312 to win.

 

[ZaudStorm]

This team never should have qualified for the WC.

 

[Executioner]

The least lucky team in this WC is Afghanistan.

Afghanistan got lucky they were able to make it to this world cup.

Yes they came close in 2 games and were competitive in SL game but in other 5 games they were completely outclassed. Will be outclassed in this tournament as well.

Also its not that they are 1/2 quality batsman away from being a good side. They need 3/4 quality batsman in the side, 1/2 quality pacers, need a strong fielding side.

I give credit to Afghanistan for coming this far but i assure you the next step is harder. Its easy to become a 10th ranked side from a 30 odd ranked side. But the next jump is much much more difficult than anyone can imagine. This world cup and even the one before showed how much gap there is between Afghanistan and the rest of the teams. I am not saying they should lose heart, they should know there is a lot of hardships since they are not going to be facing minnows anymore. You can get away against minnows if you don't take your chances. Tamim dropped Rohit Sharma and Rohit made BD pay. Had Tamim grabbed onto it BD, or if BD won that match against NZ then they would have made into the semis. But top teams like India, you make one mistake, ONE mistake, and they will make sure you suffer.

 

[BDfanforever]

Had Tamim grabbed onto it BD, or if BD won that match against NZ then they would have made into the semis. But top teams like India, you make one mistake, ONE mistake, and they will make sure you suffer.

Current BD players are not cut out for semi. They simply were not good enough for that stage. In fact, as of now they are behind SRL in point table.

Of course, this is expected from all those emotional fools in BD. How can you drop Mashrafe since he done so much for country?

 

[Mr.Q]

Afghanistan got lucky they were able to make it to this world cup.

Yes they came close in 2 games and were competitive in SL game but in other 5 games they were completely outclassed. Will be outclassed in this tournament as well.

Also its not that they are 1/2 quality batsman away from being a good side. They need 3/4 quality batsman in the side, 1/2 quality pacers, need a strong fielding side.

I give credit to Afghanistan for coming this far but i assure you the next step is harder. Its easy to become a 10th ranked side from a 30 odd ranked side. But the next jump is much much more difficult than anyone can imagine. This world cup and even the one before showed how much gap there is between Afghanistan and the rest of the teams. I am not saying they should lose heart, they should know there is a lot of hardships since they are not going to be facing minnows anymore. You can get away against minnows if you don't take your chances. Tamim dropped Rohit Sharma and Rohit made BD pay. Had Tamim grabbed onto it BD, or if BD won that match against NZ then they would have made into the semis. But top teams like India, you make one mistake, ONE mistake, and they will make sure you suffer.

They just need one or two good batsmen who can inspire the other batsmen and bring the players together. Maybe one fast bowler too. They’re a relatively young team and have fought very well. How can you ignore that tied match against India in the Asia Cup and the warm up match against Pakistan in this World Cup which they won? Their batting hasn’t clicked. That’s why they’ve been unable to win games afterwards. Bangladesh still has 4 players in the XI who played in the 2007 World Cup. That’s 12 years! You can’t compare these teams. Ireland is not showing any major improvement after playing for so many years. They might be a better team at the moment. But Afghanistan deserves this chance. I’m pretty sure they’ll progress much faster than BD. They need some motivation. These T20 leagues aren’t helping at all though.

 

[Justcrazy]

Afghanistan require another 123 runs with 7 wickets and 14.3 overs remaining

 

[Justcrazy]

Afghanistan need to send there A teams to India , Bangladesh to play in First Class , that way they will improve

 

[Artaxerxes]

Is Ikram Khil really 18 years old?. I am not bothered by his age because age makes no difference,its performance that counts.He looks much much older than 18 though.In fact most of Afghans who are listed as 18 or 19 look a lot older.

 

[Justcrazy]

Lack of partnership has been issue of Afghan cricket for a long time.

 

[Justcrazy]

Afghanistan require another 111 runs with 5 wickets and 12.0 overs remaining

 

[Justcrazy]

Afghanistan require another 88 runs with 5 wickets and 57 balls remaining

 

[Artaxerxes]

Afghanistan 8 down and need 57 runs from 5 overs.Afghan fans may go on the rampage again.The stewards must be on alert.

 

[Markhor]

What a catch to finish the match and WI's World Cup !

 

[Artaxerxes]

WI win by 23 runs.Afghanistan all out 288.Poor fielding and bowling by WI.Afghanistan end up with zero points.which is fair reflection of their cricket skills.

 

[DHONI183]

Afghanistan looked to be in with a serious chance to win the match at one stage, but then came the over from Gayle in which two wickets fell - one to a brainless run out. But still though, they fought hard and almost reached 300. Better death bowling might´ve had them requiring below 300, which would´ve given them a shot at the target I suppose.

Also, some brilliant hitting by some of the young West Indies batsmen. really enjoyable!

 

[DHONI183]

Which might´ve helped Afghanistan yesterday was that it didn´t seem like a wicket which slowed down too much towards the later stages of the match - a relief for a change in the tournament. So it allowed them to hit freely, and what also helped was the lack of a quality in the West Indies bowling line-up. All in all, it was a good ODI pitch in my opinion.