West Indies eye clean sweep at Warner Park

Mon, Jun 5, '17

A series like this one can often be an underwhelming exercise for reigning T20I world champions, West Indies. Every time they take the field, nothing less than a crushing victory may seem satisfactory on their part. Furthermore, one can be sure that should they be defeated in even one game during the three-match series, it is the loss that would be remembered by fans and pundits alike. Hence, to their credit, West Indies have done just about as well as they could to ensure Afghanistan have been given no cause for excitement, and that the tourists have been comprehensively defeated in both T20Is. One might even be tempted to go so far as to suggest the hosts have demonstrated a degree of maturity and professionalism in both their outings so far - sentiments that don't necessarily scream West Indies.

For Afghanistan, this was always going to be a historic tour, with the feel-good factor unlikely to have ceased despite the results they have incurred so far in the field of play. Even so, they must be disappointed with how they've gone about their business in the last two games, never even coming close to worrying West Indies, let alone pulling off an upset. There is little doubt the Afghanistan bowling attack has struggled for breakthroughs that would put pressure on the opposition batsmen: they have taken only seven West Indies wickets in two T20Is, with both the Zadrans - Dawlat and Shapoor - having been grossly expensive. Add to that the tourists' batting displays on both instances that bordered more on the Affiliate/Associate brand of cricket than the Associate/Full Member one. However, what has frustrated Afghanistan till now may also give them hope: these two performances aren't holistically representative of this side, and one would expect they're due a better one in a contest where the pressure will be off.

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