Afghanistan 181 for three (Zadran 87*, Rasooli 84, Seales 1-30) beat West Indies (Sampson 30, Motie 28, Rahman 3-36) 143 for nine by 38 runs
The West Indies suffered a 38-run defeat to Afghanistan in the first T20I in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Monday. Half-centuries from opener Ibrahim Zadran and Darwish Rasooli, followed by a complete bowling display that was led by Ziaur Rahman and complemented by their spinners, helped Afghanistan to a clinical win over the Caribbean side.
Everything about the West Indies, on the other hand, seemed unsettled. Stand-in captain Brandon King rued his team’s inability to put together a complete display. “We showed glimpses of good cricket, but it wasn't good enough,” he said.
Gudakesh Motie’s rushing throw from mid-on, which found Rahmanullah Gurbaz short of his ground off the first ball of the contest, had given the visitors the perfect start. Windies had a second when Sediqullah Atal was brilliantly caught by King for 2 in the third over off the bowling of Jayden Seales, leaving Afghanistan 19 for 2.
The West Indies would fail to make any further inroads for some time, and through the Zadran/Rasooli partnership, Afghanistan managed to finish the powerplay with 51 runs on the board. The pair shared in a 162-run third-wicket stand, upping the scoring rate through the middle overs as the Caribbean side failed to pull things back.
