Afghanistan 189 for four (Rasooli 68, Sediqullah 53, Forde 2-25) beat West Indies 150 all out (King 50, Hetmyer 46, Mujeeb 4-21) by 39 runs
The West Indies suffered a 39-run defeat to Afghanistan in the second T20I at the Dubai International Stadium in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday. The victory handed Afghanistan a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The Caribbean side’s fielding display was marred by dropped catches as the top-order failed to spark once again.
The Afghanistan innings was almost a carbon copy of the first T20I. Despite losing opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for one and Ibrahim Zadran for 22 in the powerplay, they kept their feet on the accelerator, scoring 54 from the first six.
There were multiple missed opportunities in the century stand that followed between Darwish Rasooli and Sediqullah Atal. Sediqullah was dropped on 11 and 45, while player of the match from the first contest, Rasooli (6
, raced to a 26-ball fifty at the other end. His second of the series. The pair targeted a struggling Gudakesh Motie and the returning Ramon Simmonds (1/39).
The 115-run third-wicket stand was finally broken after 71 balls when Windies’ best bowler on the night, Matthew Forde (2/25), had Sediqullah caught for 53. Sediqullah’s wicket fell in a period where the West Indies might have felt they were pulling things back, having restricted Afghanistan to 29 runs between overs 16 and 19. Motie (0/54) then gave up 19 in the 20th, with Afghanistan finishing on 189 for 4.