The West Indies went down to a shock three wicket loss to Afghanistan in their opening game in the Super Six at the ICC World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe on Thursday.
An uninspiring effort with the bat saw the Windies make just 197 for 8 from their 50 overs, after they had won the toss and elected to take first strike.
Shai Hope (43) and Marlon Samuels (36) were the standout batsmen for the two-time world champions who were dominated by Afghanistan teenage off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman who bagged 3 for 33, including the wicket of Chris Gayle for one run.
Evin Lewis (27) and Shimron Hetmyer (15) put on 34 for the second wicket before Hetmyer became Mohammed Nabi’s 100th ODI victim. Nabi would go on to end with 2 for 43.
Samuels stepped in with the Windies struggling at 53 for 3 and saw the Caribbean team past the century mark before he fell after facing 64 balls. Skipper Jason Holder supported with 28 as the Windies lost the last 5 wickets for 39 runs.
Afghanistan, facing a must-win situation in the remaining matches in order to qualify for the 2019 World cup, went on to make 198 for 7 in 47.4 overs thanks primarily to a patient 68 off 109 balls by Rahmat Shah.
Holder took 3 for 39 – including his 100th ODI wicket – to become the fastest West Indian to reach the milestone of 100 wickets and 1,000 runs in the 50-over format.
Final scores – West Indies 197 for 8, Afghanistan 198 for 7 Scotland, who beat the United Arab Emirates by 73 runs, now lead the way in the Super Six on 2 points. Afghanistan – who are also on two points – are second by virtue of an inferior net run rate.
The Windies return to action against tournament host Zimbabwe on Monday.
