1st T20
West Indies 114 for 4 beat Afghanistan 110 by six wickets
An attacking approach with the bat, that saw no improvisation as the innings worsened, ended Afghanistan's record 11-match winning streak and sent them tumbling to a six-wicket loss in the series opener against West Indies at Warner Park. After choosing to bat first on a slightly two-paced surface, Afghanistan threw their bats at the ball and subsequently their wickets. They were reduced to 58 for 8 by the 14th over, and were staring at their lowest total in T20 internationals. Rashid Khan, coming off a productive, maiden IPL stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Amir Hamza, however, dragged the side to 110.
Afghanistan had defended a similar total against West Indies in the World T20 in India last year - which marked the beginning of their golden run - and more recently in the tour match against West Indies Cricket Board President's XI on Tuesday. But Marlon Samuels' stylish 35 ensured the hosts cantered home with 21 balls to spare.
Swinging like millionaires, collapsing like paupers
Gulbadin Naib started the innings with a violent triptych off fast bowler James Taylor: a flick over square leg, a pull over the same region, and a swipe over midwicket. The other five balls he played out were all dots, including a non-turning legbreak from Samuel Badree, which snuck through his defense. His boundary-or-nothing innings, perhaps, was a sign of things to follow.
Naib's opening partner, Usman Ghani, was the victim of a farcical mix-up, where he and Asghar Stanikzai were at the strikers end. Four balls later, the Afghanistan captain pulled hard at a sharp bouncer, and only spliced a return catch. The visitors, though, kept swinging. Karim Janat dared to back away outside leg and slap Badree through the covers for four. A wild leg-side mow at Carlos Brathwaite, though, resulted in a top edge to Chadwick Walton, the wicketkeeper. Forty-two for 4 became 46 for 5 when Nabi recklessly slashed a catch to third man. Sunil Narine's triple-strike then left Afghanistan in serious danger of being dismissed for their lowest total in T20Is. They had been skittled for 72 against Bangladesh in the 2014 World T20.
Saving face
Rashid and Hamza then knocked the balls along the ground as Afghanistan recalibrated their strategy. Badree, Brathwaite, and Taylor were all milked for ones and twos. The two spinners later cut loose in the last two overs of the innings, which yielded 32 runs. The highlights included a flat-batted swat over long-off and a short-arm jab over wide long-on. On another night, such an onslaught could have saved the day for Afghanistan. On Saturday, it only helped them save face.
A regulation chase
Walton and Evin Lewis made early inroads into the slim chase, adding 33 in only 3.3 overs. Unlike the Afghanistan batsmen, they held their shape and picked their areas. Shapoor Zadran, the only front-line fast-bowling option for Afghanistan, conceded two fours off the first two balls of the chase. Lewis then launched him over mid-off for a six. Nabi and Hamza weren't spared either. Rashid, though, held his own with the ball as well, finishing with 1 for 14 in his four-over spell, which contained 18 dots.
Samuels, who was cold in his stint with Delhi Daredevils in the IPL, blew hot. He announced his arrival with a massive six over long-on, which flew out of the ground. He continued to time the ball exquisitely before being bowled by Shapoor with West Indies 12 away from victory. Jason Mohammed and Rovman Powell, picked in place of an ill Kieron Pollard, completed the formalities.
West Indies may be a fading ODI force, failing to qualify for the Champions Trophy in England, but they reminded Afghanistan and the rest of the world that they are still the bosses in T20 cricket.
2nd T20I
West Indies 112 for 3 beat Afghanistan 93 by 29 runs (D/L method)
West Indies clinched the T20 series with a game to go, brushing Afghanistan aside for the second night in a row. With a combination of Samuel Badree's discipline and the pace of Jerome Taylor and Kesrick Williams, the hosts struck thrice inside four overs in Afghanistan's chase of 123, setting the tone for a comfortable defense.
The target was revised, adjusted to amplify West Indies' 112 for 3 in 15 overs, after rain took away nearly two hours from the fixture. Evin Lewis and Marlon Samuels got starts after wicketkeeper-batsman Chadwick Walton had powered West Indies in the Powerplay. Rashid Khan, Karim Janat and Gulbadin Naib, though, reversed the advantage with strong performances with the ball.
Afghanistan's chase was a scattered display of anxiety against pace and hare-brained running - perhaps the two were correlated. They slipped to 19 for 3 quickly and the recovery never came. Captain Carlos Brathwaite, who had chipped away at the lower-middle order, took the final catch to notch up a series win.
West Indies begin brightly
Chadwick Walton led the charge with four pulled boundaries as Afghanistan's new-ball duo insisted on bowling short at him. Having forced the early introduction of Amir Hamza, Walton clubbed a full delivery from the left-arm spinner onto the roof over long-off.
A mix-up between the openers should have resulted in the run-out of Evin Lewis, who responded slowly as Walton tried to pinch a single in front of square leg; it ended with a bad throw, as well as a bad collision at the non-strikers end when Lewis ran into Samiullah Shenwari. The resultant stoppage disturbed Walton's momentum, and he holed out to long-on next ball. But when Lewis stepped out to Nabi immediately after to smash him over long-off, West Indies were destined for a solid start. They made 52 for 1 in the Powerplay.
Rashid, Naib tidy up
West Indies looked like they had one plan against Rashid Khan - to play him out. By the time Ashgar Stanikzai brought the legspinner on, West Indies were cruising at 71 for 1 in eight overs. Rashid hit his signature line, at the stumps, and pushed them through quickly to cut out any heaves across the line. Both Lewis and Marlon Samuels prodded from the back foot with minimal impact; Rashid snuck in tidy figures of 2-0-4-0. In between his two overs, Lewis had holed out to deep midwicket.
After the match was reduced to 15 overs, Gulbadin Naib brought out a top spell, bowling seven dot balls in his two overs and going for just ten, with the wicket of Samuels.
Fire in Basseterre
Six-and-out, four-and-out, six-and-out. Naib, Noor Ali Zadran and Stanikzai finished their respective innings in similar fashion. It was an accurate representation of Afghanistan's chase - a cycle of long periods of strangulation with the occasional release.
The chase started with a typically tight over from Badree, which went for only one. Taylor shared the new ball and chose to begin from around the wicket. His first short ball was met with a swipe across the line by Naib. What should have been a simple catch for Sunil Narine at long-off almost turned into a spectacular catch by Brathwaite running back from mid-on. Badree had Naib in the next over.
This was followed by a brutish over from Williams where the default shot was now set to awkward fend. Noor Ali didn't conform, and for his rebellion he got a four before being cramped on a hook that lobbed up for short fine leg. Shenwari feathered one to Walton first ball. There was nearly a third wicket that over - but Mohammad Nabi's glance off the hips landed short of Taylor.
3rd T20I
West Indies 147 for 3 beat Afghanistan 146 for 6 by seven wickets
Marlon Samuels' highest score in T20Is, an unbeaten 66-ball 89, steered West Indies to a whitewash-sealing seven-wicket win at Warner Park. Afghanistan, who were bowled out for 110 and 93 in the first two T20Is, put up their best batting display of the series, but a total of 146 wasn't quite enough to challenge West Indies' line-up.
The hit-and-miss start
Jerome Taylor bowled the first over of the match from around the wicket, and his angle across the right-handed Noor Ali Zadran produced four straight plays and misses. A cover-driven boundary at the end of the over settled Noor's nerves, though, and his next 12 balls produced two sixes and four more fours, including three in a row in Taylor's second over.
Afghanistan raced to 40 for 1 by the end of the fourth over, but Noor's departure in the fifth - bowled by Kesrick Williams after moving too far across his stumps, and too early - slowed them down considerably. Williams, Carlos Brathwaite and Samuel Badree sent down tight post-Powerplay overs, making a clear effort to bowl straight and deny hitting room, and by the end of the 10th over Afghanistan were only 61 for 3.
Nabi, lower order give Afghanistan a fighting chance
The next 10 overs, though, brought a far healthier 85. Sunil Narine, bowling his four overs on the trot from the 12th onwards, was typically frugal, conceding only 27 runs and one boundary, but Afghanistan showed off their hitting power against the quicker bowlers at the other end. Nabi hit two big sixes, Shafiqullah smacked Williams over midwicket and out of Warner Park in the 19th over - before hitting the next two balls for four - and Gulbadin Naib, who only got to face five balls, managed to send one pick-up shot off Taylor sailing over the square leg boundary. In all, Afghanistan scored 55 off the last five overs of seam.
Samuels bosses chase
As was the case in the second T20I, Afghanistan only played one genuine fast bowler, with Shapoor Zadran taking Dawlat Zadran's place, and his only seam support came from Karim Janat, the allrounder. Janat did not have the greatest game - he scored 8 off 17, batting at No. 5, and then conceded 41 off his four overs, bowling a length that was too short for his limited pace. Selection apart, there were tactical errors too - such as waiting until the 11th over to bring on their best bowler, Rashid Khan - and one very costly fielding lapse.
It came in the 10th over, when Nabi, having got the ball to stop on Samuels, dropped a straightforward return catch. Samuels, at that point, was batting on 40 off 32 balls. Nabi pinned Evin Lewis lbw in the same over to end a 61-run second-wicket stand, but it was Samuels who had been hurting Afghanistan the most, clearing his front leg and getting into position to flat-bat anywhere in the arc between point and midwicket.
Lendl Simmons replaced Lewis and made a brisk, attractive 15 before slicing Rashid to long-off, and a small window seemed to open up for Afghanistan, with West Indies needing 65 off 43 at that point. Samuels, though, quickly reduced the gap between runs required and balls remaining, picking up two pulled fours in the next two overs before clattering successive leg-side sixes off Nabi in the 16th. With Jason Mohammed showing off his hitting power as well - a sliced six over point off Janat the highlight of his innings - West Indies strolled home with four balls remaining.
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