World T20: Afghanistan beat West Indies by 56 runs in warm-up
SUMMARY: Afghanistan 189-5 from 20 overs (Hazratullah Zazai 56, Mohammad Shahzad 54, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 33; Obed McCoy 2-43) vs West Indies 133-5 from 20 overs (Roston Chase 54*, Nicholas Pooran 35, Mohammad Nabi 3-2)
West Indies suffered a huge defeat in their second warm-up game ahead of their title defence of the World T20, losing to Afghanistan on Wednesday in Dubai.
Afghanistan ran up a total of 189-5 from their 20 overs and then stifled the West Indies in the Powerplay, a situation they never recovered from, being limited to 133-5 when the overs finished.
The 56-run defeat follows a seven-wicket loss at the hands of Pakistan in the first warm-up on Monday in Dubai.
Afghanistan were given a flying start by opener Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad, who piled up 90 in 8.5 overs to lay the base for the winning total.
Zazai made 56 off 35 and Shahzad 54 off 35, the pair combining for 14 fours and three sixes.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (33 off 26) and Najibullah Zadran (23 off 19) then built on the platform laid by the openers as the West Indies bowlers had little success. Left-arm seamer Obed McCoy took 2-43 as four bowlers went at over 10 runs per over.
West Indies lost both openers Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis in the Powerplay with just 19 on the board, before Shimron Hetmyer fell for two to make it 27-3. All three wickets fell to off-spinner Mohammad Nabi, who finished with 3-2 off his four overs.
Though Roston Chase and Nicholas Pooran put together 70 for the fourth wicket, Afghanistan bowlers were good at limiting the boundary balls, which took the game beyond West Indies.
Chase ended on 54 off 58, while Pooran made 35 off 26.
West Indies, reigning champions of the World T20, play their first game of the World Cup proper on Saturday (October 23) against England in Dubai from 10:00h.
