Toss Afghanistan chose to bat v West Indies
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Afghanistan opted to bat, on a day when a lot of rain was expected, making West Indies quite happy that they were chasing © AFP
Heavy overnight rain in St Lucia delayed the toss by more than two hours. Eventually the two captains came out for the toss but as soon as Afghanistan’s Asghar Stanikzai found the favour of the coin, he lost those of the elements. A drizzle prompted the groundstaff to cover the square again and left the deciding match of a three-match series locked at 1-1
West Indies coach Stuart Law, during a pre-match interview with the host broadcaster, was very frank in his assessment of his team, saying their young players were actually less experienced than their opposition – an Associate team – in ODI cricket. He also admitted that West Indies are in a great struggle to climb up the rankings and gain automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup.
The top eight teams as of September 30 will be locked in to play the showpiece event in England – and with Bangladesh making the semi-final of the Champions Trophy and Pakistan going one better to secure a spot in the final – they will likely widen the gap between themselves and the No. 9 ranked West Indies.
“But we can’t be focussed on that,” Law said. “We have to be up for this contest, and then the next series against India. If we can win a couple of games, and then a couple against England, I’m sure we can climb the ladder. Whether or not we get direct entry into the World Cup, I’m not sure.”
In a bid to win their third ODI series against a Full Member, Afghanistan left out middle-order batsman Samiullah Shenwari and left-arm spinner Amir Hamza and replaced them with middle-order batsman Nasir Jamal and legspinner Fareed Ahmad. West Indies made one change – Miguel Cummins came into XI in place of the injured Shannon Gabriel.
Afghanistan: 1 Noor Ali Zadran, 2 Javed Ahmadi, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Asghar Stanikzai (capt), 5 Nasir Jamal, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Afsar Zazai (wk), 8 Gulbadin Naib, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Fareed Ahmad, 11 Dawlat Zadran
West Indies: 1 Evin Lewis, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Shai Hope(wk), 4 Jonathan Carter, 5 Jason Mohammed, 6 Roston Chase, 7 Rovman Powell, 8 Jason Holder (capt), 9 Ashley Nurse, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Miguel Cummins
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo