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‘Serious contender to win the title’- Fans laud West Indies after their dominating win against Afghanistan by 104 runs

West Indies end the T20 World Cup 2024 group phase matches at the top of the table after their comprehensive 104 run win over Afghanistan in St. Lucia

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West Indies (Source-ICC)

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The group phase matches of the T20 World Cup came to an end. West Indies ended as the table topping team grom Group C after they emphatically defeated Afghanistan by 104 runs. The one-sided game saw the home team dominate Afghanistan in all the facets of the game. 

After being put into bat, West Indies scored 218 from their 20 overs for the loss of 5 wickets. The top scorer with the bat for the home team was Nicholas Pooran who was run-out for 98 runs from 53 balls. Opener Johnson Charles with 43 was the next best batter for the home team. 

Gulbadin Naib with 2/14 from his 2 overs was the best Afghanistan bowler. Azmatullah Omarzai and Naveen-ul-Haq picked a wicket each against the rampaging West Indian batting unit. One of the biggest lowlights for the Afghanistan team was the 36-run over by Azmatullah Omarzai to create an unwanted record. 

Clinical West Indies demolish Afghanistan 

Chasing 219 to win the game and stay unbeaten, Afghanistan lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz early. Akeal Hossein enticed the young Afghan batter to go over the top only to spoon an easy catch to Andre Russell. 

Ibrahim Zadran and Gulbadin Naib added 45 runs for the 2nd wicket in 35 balls. With 38 runs from 28 balls, Ibrahim Zadran was the top scorer for the Afghans on a dismal day with the bat. 

It was Gudakesh Motie who broke the stand when he got the wicket of Naib for 7. Obed McCoy then removed the dangerous Ibrahim Zadran when he was caught by Johnson Charles. 

The wickets kept tumbling as the West Indian bowlers kept a tight leash on the Afghan batters. Azmatullah Omarzai (23), Rashid Khan (14), and Karim Janat (14) were the other three batters to post double figure scores on the board. 

For the West Indians it was Obed McCoy who was the star with the ball as the pacer picked 3/14 from his 3 overs. Left-arm spinners Akeal Hossein and Gudakesh Motie also picked 2 wickets each as the home team won the game by 104 runs. 

Rashid Khan speaking at the end of the game lauded the West Indies team for their terrific win said “They were incredible with the way they started in the powerplay but we pulled it back in the middle overs and it was a good effort to restrict them to under 220. It is good that happened in this game and take away the learnings into the next round. There was a strong breeze blowing and bowling into the wicket was the way to go. As a bowler you need to come up with plans to keep the scoring to below under 10. The morale is still pretty high and this loss does not affect us”

Here’s how the fans reacted 

 

T20 World Cup Nicholas Pooran West Indies