After an enthralling twenty days of ICC World Cup Qualifiers, the day of the finals finally arrived at Harare Sports Club. It was the two teams who qualified for the World Cup next year, Afghanistan and West Indies, who faced off to lift the coveted trophy.
One might have had a good chuckle if someone came up and stated that Afghanistan is going to clinch the title, especially looking at their journey in the group stages.
However, the Afghans, against all odds, created a massive turnaround for themselves, to go on to win the tournament, overhauling giants such as West Indies, Zimbabwe, Scotland, and even Ireland.
The toss went West Indies way as Jason Holder and co. opted to bat first. In the hindsight, it was a good toss to lose as the Afghans side dismissed the Windies 47 overs.
West Indies could only post a target of 205 in front of the men in red and blue in the finals. This time around, it was Mujeeb ur Rahman who shined for the Afghan side.
KXIP’s latest treasure, Mujeeb Zadran, picked up four wickets in the innings and conceded only 43 in his quota of 10 overs. He was ably supported by Gulbadin Naib who clinched a couple of wickets.
After the early loss of Gayle, Shai Hope and Evin Lewis attempted to build a holding partnership. Yet, it all went spiralling down for West Indies after their dismissals, as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals, unable to forge partnerships.
Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell tried to resurrect the West Indian innings with their respective contribution. Looking back, none of the batsmen was able to score one big knock after getting starts.
The target was clear for Afghanistan to create history and clinch the inaugural edition of the qualifiers. Carrying on from his dominance in the match against Ireland, Mohammad Shahzad hogged all the limelight with his blistering 84 off 93 runs.
Shahzad entertained the spectators with eleven boundaries and a couple of sixes. His knocked out any possibility of a West Indian comeback with the ball. Rahmat Shah took over from Gulbadin Naib as he anchored the Afghan reply.
Rahmat Shah played a sensible 78-ball 51 before being stumped in a rush of blood. It was Chris Gayle who broke the 90 run stand between Rahmat and Shahzad by sending them back to the pavilion.
The finishing touch was provided by Mohammad Nabi and Shenwari Shamiullah who hit the winning runs and took their side to a handsome 7-wicket win. Nabi hit three consecutive sixes to take his side to victory in style.
Brief Scores
West Indies 204-10 (46.5);
Rovman Powell 44 (75), Shimron Hetmyer 38 (51), Mujeeb Ur Rahman 4/43, Gulbadin Naib 2/28
Afghanistan 206-3 (40.4);
Mohammad Shahzad 84 (93), Rahmat Shah 51 (78), Chris Gayle 2/38
