LUCKNOW — Minnows Afghanistan inflicted West Indies with a stunning series defeat here Sunday, after stifling the Caribbean side’s powerful batting lineup to pull off a clinical 29-run victory in the final Twenty20 International of the three-match series.
Entering the decisive contest at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee International Stadium with the series level 1-1, West Indies found themselves outplayed for the second time in two days as the hosts completed a remarkable turnaround after losing the opening game by 30 runs last Thursday.
In pursuit of a challenging but hardly insurmountable 157, West Indies found themselves bogged down again and only Shai Hope, a late injury replacement for Denesh Ramdin, managed to defy the Afghan attack with a top score of 52 from 46 deliveries, with three fours and a six.
Opener Evin Lewis struck 24 from 23 balls but no other batsman passed 11 as the Windies paid dearly for a slow start and losing wickets at critical moments during the run chase.
Naveen-ul-Haq, a nerveless 20-year-old seamer who was handed the new ball, undermined the innings with three for 24 and also got the key wicket of captain Kieron Pollard for 11 in the 18th over to snuff out the Caribbean side’s last realistic hope of victory.
The humbling result came just 24 hours following their 41-run loss at the same venue and marked their fourth defeat to Afghanistan in seven T20 Internationals, but their first-ever series defeat.
More damning for the Windies – the reigning T20 World champions – the series defeat was their third straight following similar results against England and India earlier this year and was their 17th loss in 21 T20 outings inside the last 20 months.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, a 17-year-old right-hander in only his seventh T20 International, established the early momentum for Afghanistan when he stroked an enterprising Man-of-the-Match 79 off 52 balls at the top of the order. The innings, comprising half-dozen fours and five sixes, held the hosts’ innings together and steered them to 156 for eight after they chose to bat first.
While Asghar Afghan was the only other batsman to pass 20 with 24, it was enough to push Afghanistan pass the 150-run mark and leave their bowlers with a target to defend.
Left-arm pacer Sheldon Cottrell claimed two for 29.
West Indies were put under early pressure when Lendl Simmons (7), in his first West Indies outing in two-and-a-half years, played back to off-spinner Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and was bowled in the third over. And the tourists found themselves 16 for two in the fourth over when rookie Brandon King (1), for the second straight game, was bowled by an inswinging slower-ball, this time from Naveen.
Hope and Lewis halted the fall of wickets in a 26-run, third-wicket stand but the effort required 25 balls and by the time Lewis was hit in front by Janat at the end of the eighth, West Indies were struggling to get out of first gear on 42 for three.
On 63 for three at the half-way stage with a required run rate of nearly 10 per over, West Indies lost Shimron Hetmyer for 11 after he added 38 for the fourth wicket with Hope, caught at cover trying to go over the top with leg-spinner Rashid Khan in the 13th over.
Pollard’s arrival signalled new hope for the Windies but he hardly played a shot in anger in adding 32 for the fifth wicket with Hope and when he finally hit out, was easily taken in the deep by Najibullah Zadran in the 18th over with 39 runs needed from the last two overs. Hope drilled pacer Gulbadin Naib to cover at the start of the penultimate over to sound the death knell for his side.
“It was a similar situation to yesterday (the second T20), we found ourselves in a hole in the (batting) powerplay and couldn’t dig ourselves out of it,” Pollard said after the loss and series defeat.
“I can’t fault the effort of the bowlers, but having said that, the guys would have taken a lot from this series and how to adapt and play on slower pitches. We have a long-term plan, but we have to deal with what’s in front of us right now.”
Afghan skipper Rashid Khan meanwhile said, “We knew we had to bat well and make 150-plus. Once we had that total, we knew we have the bowling strength to defend that.”
The teams have a one-off test match at the same Lucknow venue starting November 27. (CMC)
Scoreboard
AFGHANISTAN
H.Zazai c Lewis b Cottrell 0
R.Gurbaz c Paul b Pollard 79
K.Janat c wkp Hope b Cottrell 2
I.Zadran run out 1
A.Afghan c King b Paul 24
N.Zadran c Pollard b Williams 14
M.Nabi c Holder b Paul 15
R.Khan c Cottrell b Williams 0
G.Naib not out 4
Naveen-ul-Haq not out 2
Extras: (lb4, w11) 15
TOTAL: (8 wkts, 20) 157
Wkts at: 1-3 (Zazai), 2-12 (Janat), 3-44 (Zadran), 4-94 (Afghan), 5-120 (Gurbaz), 6-142 (Zadran), 7-149 (Khan), 8-151 (Nabi).
BOWLING: Sheldon Cottrell 4-0-29-2, Jason Holder 4-0-26-0, Kesrick Williams 4-0-31-2, Khary Pierre 3-0-19-0, Keemo Paul 3-0-26-2, Kieron Pollard 2-0-21-1.
WEST INDIES
Lendl Simmons b Mujeeb-ur-Rahman 7
E.Lewis lbw b Janat 24
B.King b Naveen-ul-Haq 1
S.Hope c Afghan b Naib 52
S.Hetmyer c Afghan b R.Khan 11
K.Pollard c Zadran b Naveen-ul-Haq 11
J.Holder c Nabi b Naveen-ul-Haq 6
K.Paul not out 4
K.Pierre not out 1
Extras: (lb4, w5, nb1) 10
TOTAL: (7 wkts, 20) 127
Wkts: 1-13 (Simmons), 2-16 (King), 3-42 (Lewis), 4-80 (Hetmyer), 5-112 (Pollard, 17.2 ov), 6-118 (Hope), 7-124 (Holder).
BOWLING: Mujeeb-ur-Rahman 3-0-9-1, Naveen-ul-Haq 4-0-24-3, Karim Janat 4-0-33-1, Gulbadin Naib 4-0-26-1, Mohammed Nabi 1-0-13-0, Rashid Khan 4-0-18-1.
Result: Afghanistan won by 29 runs.
Man-of-the-Match: Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Man-of-the-Series: Karim Janat