Zadran, Rasooli power Afghanistan to commanding win over West Indies
Mujeeb, Rashid and Noor shared six wickets between them, ensuring a comfortable 38-run victory
Mujeeb, Rashid and Noor shared six wickets between them, ensuring a comfortable 38-run victory
Commentator: Rvel Zahid
Thank you for tuning in. Time for me, Rvel Zahid, to say goodbye on behalf of our team at ESPNcricinfo.
Darwaish Rasooli, Player of the Match (translated by Rashid Khan): The plan was simple -- just spend as much time as possible in the middle. That was the conversation between me and Ibrahim, and just to play our shots. I haven't had much in my mind, just tried to play my natural game and my shots, and not bothered by the long and short boundaries. It's a big win for us and a good start and I will try to continue.
Brandon King, West Indies Captain: We are disappointed to lose the game. We showed glimpses of good cricket but it wasn't good enough. Afghanistan are a team that have quite a few good spinners. We will talk about it on the day off and review the game. Our bowlers overall didn't do too badly, they did well in patches
Rashid Khan, Afghanistan captain: I feel like the bowling unit we have - runs on the board - that is something that gives us the best opportunity. Then the spinners we have make sure we hit the right areas. As long as we are bringing our best skills to the game, it doesn't matter whether we bat first or second. It feels proud to put on the Afghanistan jersey, it feels special. As a team, we are fit and hopefully we will have a good World Cup, Inshallah. We want to go with a proper playing XI, a good combination, and plan what will be best for us in India but our mindset and energy will be the same.
Afghanistan will be pretty satisfied with their performance, keeping in view their World Cup preparations. It's looking like a well-oiled machine, boasting a potent bowling attack and a decent batting line-up. They were set for a 200 or more total but slowed down a touch in the middle overs; Rasooli and Zadran were able to compensate for that dry period at the death and mustered a respectable total. Motie and Seales had decent outings with the ball. Thereon, it was always going to be tough to hunt this total down given the quality of Afghanistan's spin attack and the spin-friendly conditions. They kept West Indies under the pump, with wickets tumbling at regular intervals. There's plenty of soul-searching and reflection to be done for West Indies -- only four batters reached double figures and there was no innings of note. Mujeeb, Rashid and Noor did the bulk of the damage. With not much time to regroup and strategize, they'll be back tomorrow, looking to keep the series alive
Sifat Khawry : "India, SA, AUS & Afghanistan will the semi finalist with India being the champions.!! "
Nick: "Afghanistan could afford another batter instead of Ziaur RahmanWith Azmatullah "
Iftikhar Jalal: "What if Italy surprises us all and wins the World Cup, we've never seen them on the international stage before "
shafqat : "I think India will be the championS and my Semifinalists SA ,NZ, INDIA,PAK;"
K Pierre lbw b Ziaur Rahman 3 (9m 6b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50
He hasn't been at his best of late, but Rashid Khan brought out his variations against West Indies on Monday in Dubai to great effect
Mujeeb, Rashid and Noor shared six wickets between them, ensuring a comfortable 38-run victory
With World Cup spots up for grabs, Afghanistan and West Indies head into the three-match series with plenty to play for