World Cup 2019: West Indies seal consolation 23-run victory against Afghanistan to end tournament on a high

West Indies ended their 2019 World Cup campaign on a positive note, beating Afghanistan by 23 runs at Headingley, Leeds on Thursday.

West Indies captain Jason Holder won the toss and decided to bat first. That decision looked to have backfired when Dawlat Zadran dismissed Chris Gayle for just 7. However, Shai Hope and Evin Lewis steadied the West Indies ship, guiding them to 43 for 1 at the end of 10 overs.

Hope and Lewis played the Afghanistan spinners particularly well, rotating strike and hitting the odd boundary. The normally explosive Lewis reached his fifty off 62 balls, while Hope completed his half-century off 65 balls. However, Rashid Khan got the breakthrough, dismissing Lewis for 58.

Shimron Hetymer then arrived at the crease and played with positive intent, putting pressure on the Afghanistan bowlers. However, he was dismissed soon after for a quick-fire 39 off 31 balls.

Mohammad Nabi then dismissed Hope for 77 as Afghanistan looked to claw their way back into the match. Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder had other plans and took on the Afghanistan bowlers in the last 10 overs. Pooran reached his half-century off 40 balls and, along with Holder, added 105 runs for the 5th wicket.

A late Carlos Brathwaite cameo helped West Indies post a total 311 on the board.

Chasing 312 runs to win, Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib was dismissed cheaply for 5. Rahmat Shah and Ikram Ali Khil steadied the ship, keeping the scoreboard ticking.

Both players reached their respective half-centuries off 57 balls, but Shah was dismissed soon after by Brathwaite for 62.

Najibullah Zadran walked out to the crease and attacked the bowling from the get-go. Najibullah and Khil added 51 runs for the 3rd wicket, but the former was run-out in unfortunate circumstances, triggering a collapse.

Asghar Afghan's cameo of 40 was not enough as West Indies ran through the tail, bowling Afghanistan out for 288.

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