Afganistan fought back hard in the second T20I and registered a supreme win over the visiting side after a complicated ODI series and losing the first T20I. With just one more opportunity to make their record look better, West Indies won their first T20I of the year last game after seven defeats and then collapsed to an eight defeat this year leaving them.
After winning the toss earlier Afganistan decided to bat first. Forgoing in a traditional way a bold decision was taken by Rashid khan and that by giving a strong start with the willow Hazratuallah Zazai repaid the faith. In four overs they went past the 40 marks, but both openers were dismissed by Kesrick Williams with consecutive deliveries and there began their downfall in the fifth over.
Jason Holder joined the party next, dismissing Asghar Afghan and soon after, Karim Janat. The side had lost their scoring spree and found it difficult to get the boundaries. Keemo Paul was exceptional in the middle overs and returned with two very important wickets Ibrahim Zadran and Mohammad Nabi.
As it turned out, all the sides could manage in their 20 overs was 147 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. Kesrick Williams was the pick of the bowlers among the West Indies, who returned with figures of 3/23 in his 4 overs with Jason Holder and Keemo Paul picking two wickets each.
Karim Janat stars with the ball
While defending targets of such nature, the bowling team expects a minimum of two wickets in the powerplay overs to stay relevant. The Afghans just got one run but conceded just 29 runs in the first six overs, which saw a drastic surge in the required rate. Naveen-ul-Haq provided the only breakthrough in this phase, dismissing Brandon King.
Karim Janat then bowled a spell of a lifetime, dismissing four big players in the middle order in quick succession. After getting rid of Shimaran Hetmyer in the 8th over, he returned with two scalps in the 10th over – Evin Lewis and Sherfane Rutherford. In the 12th over, he got the big fish, skipper Kieron Pollard by trapping him in front of the stumps.
West Indies’ scoring rate never picked up the pace which needed with all the bowlers sticking to the basics and showing up with a disciplined performance. Karim Janat picked up a five-for, conceding just 11 runs in his 4 overs. West Indies could only manage 106 runs in their 20 overs, thus gifting a 41-run win for Rashid and his troops.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to this performance
Lowest score WI failed to chase in T20is :
106 v ZIM, 2010
121 v SA, 2010
124 v AFG, 2016
133 v PAK, 2016
136 v PAK, 2013
137 v SA, 2010
148 v AFG, 2019***#AFGvWI #WIvsAFG— Ayush Bharadi (@AyushStats) November 16, 2019
Excellent comeback by Afghanistan to level the T20I series against @windiescricket. Superb performance by Karim Janat and great team effort overall. Not to forget that winning and losing is part of the game and the team that plays good cricket prevails at the end. #AFGvWI pic.twitter.com/Mr4vjfSq89
— Lutfullah Stanikzai (@Lutfullah1504) November 16, 2019
It was a day to remember for Man of the Match Karim Janat whose tremendous all-round performance helped Afghanistan level the series.#AFGvWI pic.twitter.com/p65BZIrSgK
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) November 16, 2019
Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi were in the syllabus.
But Karim Janat showed up in the exam.
What an incredible performance.#AFGvWI #AFGvsWI
— CricBlog (@cric_blog) November 16, 2019
"Haha, RCB don't want you."
"Watch it, mate."#AFGvWI #AFGvsWI pic.twitter.com/H2CRlqUxNQ
— CricBlog (@cric_blog) November 17, 2019
A 5-wicket haul and 25+ with the bat in the same T20I
Shakib Al Hasan (42* & 5/20) v WI, 2018
Allan Douglas (47* & 5/18) v Cayman Islands, 2019
Joshua Rasu (40 & 5/36) v PNG, 2019
Karim Janat (26 & 5/11) v WI, today#AFGvWI— Israr Ahmed Hashmi (@IamIsrarHashmi) November 16, 2019
#KarimJanat having a good evening today. 5-11 just superb bowling. 👏👏 More to come…keep shining all-rounder. ✊💪 #AFGvWI #Cricket pic.twitter.com/ZESD8Jfhs0
— Kawser Ahmed Shishir (@Kawser_dew) November 16, 2019
What's going on between Hetmyer and Rasid Khan?#AFGvWI pic.twitter.com/6hrJJw7iEU
— Rohit Sharma FC (@Ro45FC) November 16, 2019
A bad 48 hours for Shimron Hetmyer.
1. Released by RCB
2. Was given out when the ball pitched so far outside leg, you could fit a truck in that gap.#AFGvWI #AFGvsWI pic.twitter.com/J5qzgEBaus— CricBlog (@cric_blog) November 17, 2019
Why is Hetmyer part T20 Team because he failed in Cpl, 50 Overs and now 2 T20 games.
— Melvin Besai (@MelvinBesai1) November 16, 2019
Oh Hetmyer, how unlucky one could get! Horrible decision from the umpire 😡 #AFGvWI
— Maitri (@pull_playlist) November 16, 2019
The decision against Hetmyer is one of the worst I've seen all year. The ball was pitching way, way outside leg #AFGvWI
— Pramod Ananth (@pramz) November 16, 2019
Goodness gracious me. That is 3 stumps away. Hetmyer might bring out a hammer
— Karthik Raj (@kartcric) November 16, 2019
Poor run continues for Hetmyer.
— Johns (@CricCrazyJohns) November 16, 2019
Hetmyer fails again.
RCB unfollows you, bad luck won't. #AFGvWI
— Not Nirmalogy (@FakeRainaNephew) November 16, 2019
