Afghanistan Down West Indies in 2nd T20I With Mujeeb, Rasooli Heroics

Afghanistan defeated West Indies in the 2nd T20I by 39 runs to gain an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the series. A collective performance by Afghanistan superstars handed West Indies their second consecutive defeat in the series. They looked out of answers against the rampant Afghanistan team in both innings, as Shimron Hetmyer remained their only notable player who displayed some fight in the chase.

Batting first, Afghanistan didn’t have a great start, as they lost both openers early in the Powerplay. After their dismissal, Sediqullah Atal and Darwish Rasooli played steadily and formed a big partnership to take the innings forward. They made sure to keep wickets in hand, so that a strong batting foundation could be laid in the first innings.

The knock of Darwish Rasooli was especially impressive, as he started to hit boundaries after getting set at the crease. He was looking good to score a century, but was eventually dismissed by Ramon Simmonds for 68 runs.

His partner at the other end, Sediqullah Atal, also scored a valuable fifty, but was dismissed after that by Matthew Forde. A short cameo by Azmatullah Omarzai in the final overs then lifted the Afghanistan scoring rate. He scored quick 26 off 13 balls to give Afghanistan a huge total of 189 on the board.

The chase of West Indies in the second innings started on a lower note. After losing Alick Athanaze early, Brandon King and Evin Lewis made a steady partnership to take the innings forward. Unfortunately, they couldn’t bat long, as Mujeeb Ur Rahman came up with a stunning spell to take back-to-back wickets.

After these wickets, Shimron Hetmyer came in at number 5 and changed the momentum of the WI innings. His positive batting transferred the pressure again on Afghanistan bowlers, but a fine delivery by Fazalhaq Farooqi sent him back to the pavilion. He got out after playing an exceptional knock of 46 runs, smashing a four and 6 huge sixes.

Soon after that, Brandon King also lost his wicket and the batting of West Indies quickly folded for 150 runs. Due to such disappointing batting, they lost another match and handed Afghanistan an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the series.