World Cup Qualifiers: Afghans hand Windies first loss

Afghanistan rode on Rahmat Shah’s half-century (68 off 109) to chase down 198 with 14 balls to spare; earlier, spinners Mujeeb ur Rahman (3/33), Mohammad Nabi (2/43) and Rashid Khan (1/31) restricted the Windies to 197/8.

Sharafuddin Ashraf of Afghanistan celebrates his teams victory against Windies at The Harare Sports Club in Harare on Thursday.

Afghanistan, one of the favourites to earn a World Cup ticket, had a topsy-turvy run in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament so far. But on Thursday, it kept all the consistencies aside to hand Windies its first defeat, in the super sixes, to stay afloat in the series.

Afghanistan rode on Rahmat Shah’s half-century (68 off 109) to chase down 198 with 14 balls to spare at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on Thursday . Mohammad Nabi (31 off 54) and Samiullah Shenwari (27) chipped in with runs too. Windies skipper Jason Holder (3/39) impressed with the ball but he didn’t have a competitive target to defend.

Scorecard

Earlier, spinners Mujeeb ur Rahman (3/33), Mohammad Nabi (2/43) and Rashid Khan (1/31) restricted the Windies to 197/8 in the stipulated overs.

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Chris Gayle (1) failed to deliver and his opening partner, Evin Lewis (27) didn’t last long too. Marlon Samuels (36) brought his experience into play and stuck to the wicket before falling to Nabi in the 31 over.

Mujeeb was adjudged man of the match.