West Indies suffer 138-run defeat to Afghanistan at Men’s U-19 World Cup

Afghanistan 262 for six (Sadat 88, Khan 86, Pollard 3-39) beat West Indies 124 all out (Andrew 57, Pollard 11*, Nooristani 4-16) by 138 runs 

The West Indies’ chances of advancing to the Super Sixes of the ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup have been dented following a 138-run defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in their Group D encounter at the High Performance Oval, in Windhoek, Namibia, on Sunday. 

With the result, Afghanistan leapt to the top of the standings on 4 points, while the Caribbean side slipped to second with 2 points from two games. 

80-plus scores from opener Osman Sadat (88) and captain Mahboob Khan helped Afghanistan to a respectable total of 262 for 6 from their 50 overs. The former shared in an 86-run opening stand with Khalid Ahmadzai (34) to fend off the new ball, leaving Khan to finish off the innings with a 69-ball 86.

Seamer Jakeem Pollard and left-arm wrist-spinner Vitel Lawes accounted for the Afghan wickets between them with figures of 3 for 39 and 3 for 48, respectively. 

The West Indies failed to put the target under threat at any point in their chase. Captain Joshua Dorne continued to struggle on the big stage, and his dismissal for a 5-ball duck, leaving them 21 for 3 at the end of the sixth over, was the first real alarm.

The creaks of wickets tumbling at the other end pushed an aggressive Jewel Andrew back into his shell, in wait of a partner. The Antiguan would, however, find none and was the only batter to provide any resistance. 

He top-scored with 57, while Wahidullah Zadran (3/36) ran through the Windies top order and stuck around for most of Nooristani Omarzai's assault (4/16) on the middle, before the West Indies were eventually dismissed for 124 in 33.2 overs. 

South Africa and Tanzania, the other members in the group, are yet to get off the mark. They face each other in their game in hand on Monday.