Windies to sign off disappointing World Cup with Afghanistan clash

By Brandon Corlette

Nicholas Pooran’s maiden century and the presence of megastar Rihanna have failed to help West Indies win a second match of the 2019 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup.

The jaded West Indies team will sign off their World Cup campaign on Thursday, July 4, 2019, at Headingly, Leeds from 05:30h local time, against the winless Afghanistan.
With West Indies’ current performance in this World Cup, this contest could be evenly poised and the Afghanistan team will be hungry for their maiden win in World Cup cricket. Prior to this World Cup, West Indies Captain Jason Holder made Afghanistan a target. The reason for Holder’s comments was because his team lost to the Afghanistan team twice in 2018, including the World Cup qualifiers.
Afghanistan showed great promise against Asian giants India and Pakistan during this World Cup. Against India, Afghanistan lost by a mere 11 runs restricting the star-studded Indian team to 224-8 in 50 overs. In their match against Pakistan, they lost by three wickets; the Afghanistan batting has been the major hiccup since the spin attack is rated as one of the better ones in world cricket.

In a World Cup match with little significance, West Indies and Afghanistan will play in the bottom-of-the-table clash. West Indies have had many games to win, but they failed to capitalise and as a result, they lost matches in bundles. The Caribbean team played Afghanistan in 2017 in a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series that was levelled 1-1. Afghanistan then further defeated the West Indies twice in the World Cup Qualifiers.
It was Rashid Khan, who handed Afghanistan their first win over the West Indies team back in June 2017. West Indies were tasked to chase 213 in 50 overs, but Khan’s magical 7-18 saw the Caribbean team crumble to 149 all out.
In the World Cup Qualifiers, in the group match, West Indies lost to the same team by three wickets, as they were restricted to 197-8 in 50 overs and Afghanistan achieved that target. Sweet revenge did not come for West Indies as they lost by seven wickets to Afghanistan in the final of the World Cup Qualifiers.
A lot of ‘teeth’ is between these two teams and it is clear that both teams want to win. However, the batting of Afghanistan has been on the weaker side; no batsman has surpassed 200 runs in the eight matches played. Najibullah Zarden has 199 runs while Hashmatullah Shahidi has 197 runs.
Mohammed Nabi is their leading wicket-taker with nine wickets while skipper Gulbadin Naib has nine scalps as well. Spin prince Mujeeb Ur Rahaman, who removed Chris Gayle in the World Cup Qualifiers, has seven victims thus far in this World Cup. Meanwhile, West Indies batting has been promising at times, but they lacked cohesion. Pooran is the leading batsman with 309 runs while Gayle has 235 runs. Shimron Hetmyer has 218 runs while Shai Hope has 197 runs thus far.
These batsmen will be aiming to fill their boots against a lesser-ranked opponent. Sheldon Cottrell has 12 wickets for West Indies while Holder and Oshane Thomas have eight wickets each. A win for the West Indies will be a good feeling, but it would not take away the poor quality of cricket they played throughout this campaign. A defeat against Afghanistan will further dent and embarrass West Indies as a unit.