ICC World Cup 2019: West Indies beat Afghanistan for their second victory of tournament

| Gaurav Gupta | TNN | Jul 5, 2019, 10:29 IST

Playing in his final 50-over World Cup game, against Afghanistan ... Read More

LEEDS: Soon after he launched into a dive in front of him to take the catch, Chris Gayle lay on the ground for a few seconds, before indulging in push-ups, with bowler Carlos Brathwaite, who took 4/63, joining him. The 39-year-old has been heavily criticized for reversing his decision to quit ODIs after the World Cup, but this was the great batsman's way of saying: 'I'm still fit.'

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Playing in his final 50-over World Cup game, against Afghanistan at Headingley on Thursday, the 'Universe Boss' failed with the bat, but did all that he could in the field to sign off from the big stage in style. Besides taking a good catch to send back Rahmat Shah (62, 78b, 10x4), he had Ikram Alikhil (86, 93b, 8x4) out lbw while sweeping to deny a desperate Afghanistan its sole win in the 2019 World Cup.

Victory at long last for the Windies

West Indies beat Afghanistan by 23 runs in their final group match of the ICC World Cup at Headingley to secure their second win of a disappointing tournament. (AP Photo)

Gayle was caught behind after a slash against Dawlat Zadran for just seven and remains 10 runs short of Brian Lara's all-time West Indian record of 10,348 ODI runs. (AFP Photo)

Shai Hope capitalised on an early reprieve to score a 92-ball 77 and Evin Lewis and Nicholas Pooran also struck half-centuries to power West Indies to 311-6 after electing to bat. (AFP Photo)

Dawlat Zadran claimed 2-73 for Afghanistan who were sloppy on the field, dropping catches and missing run-out chances. (AFP Photo)

Afghanistan's highly rated leg-spinner Rashid Khan ended the tournament with just six wickets after taking 1-52 against Windies. (AFP Photo)

Ikram Ali Khil (86) and Rahmat Shah (62) shared a century stand to keep Afghanistan's hope of their first victory in the tournament alive. (Getty Images)

Gayle, playing in his final World Cup match at the age of 39, failed with the bat but struck with the ball, trapping top scorer Ali Khil lbw in the 36th over. (Getty Images)

But Carlos Brathwaite (4-63) and Kemar Roach (3-37) wrecked their middle and lower order as Afghanistan were bundled out for 288 in exactly 50 overs. (Getty Images)

The Afghans left the tournament without winning a match to finish bottom of the standings, one place below West Indies. (AP Photo)

Chasing 312, Afghanistan, at 189 for two in the 36th over, looked on course to salvage some pride, before pressing the self-destruct button, losing three wickets for 12 runs. It was the story of their campaign, getting into positions of strength before throwing it all way. To their credit, Afghanistan still fought hard, finishing at 288 in 50 overs to go down by 23 runs. The West Indies rounded off only their second win in the tournament when Fabien Allen, running backwards, dived full length to pull off a brilliant catch at cover to dismiss last man Sayed Shirzad, who chipped in with 17-ball 25 (2x6, 2x4).

Earlier, Gayle failed in his final World Cup innings, but the West Indies scored 311 for six in 50 overs in their final game of this edition.

There were plenty of moments that the West Indies provided in this game which will make everyone miss them in the knockout stages of the World Cup. With no pressure of qualifying for the semis, but just the pride to play for, Shai Hope (77, 92b, 6x4, 2x6), Evin Lewis (58, 78b, 6x4, 2x6), Nicholas Pooran (58, 43b, 6x4, 1x6), skipper Jason Holder (45, 34b, 4x6, 1x4) and Shimron Heytmyer (39, 31b, 3x4, 2x6) all came out with their bats swinging, smashing the ball to all parts of the ground.

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