Rahkeem Cornwall, the 26-year-old Antiguan offspinner, picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in Test Cricket to leave Afghanistan in tatters on the first day’s play in Lucknow by the time the second session ended.
In the first hour of after lunch, four wickets fell as Cornwall broke through the middle-order of Afghanistan, not allowing new batters to settle in. He accounted for Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afgan, and debutant Nasir Jamal. Before anybody could put up a fight, Cornwall also contributed to the dismissal of Afghanistan’s skipper Rashid Khan fell to an excellent low catch.
Things slowed down in the second half of the session as debutant Amir Hamza and wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai resisted with a doughty stand of more than fifty runs for the eighth wicket. Afghanistan again lost a settled batsman in Zazari just at tea.
Brief scores: Afghanistan 165/8 (Javed Ahmadi 39, Afsar Zazai 32; Rahkeem Cornwall 6-58) vs West Indies).
