WI thrash Afghans by 104 runs

Gros Islet (St Lucia): West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran was not bothered about missing out on a maiden T20I century after getting run-out following a record-breaking 98 off 53 balls in a thumping 104-run win against Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup last group stage match here at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium on Tuesday (as per IST).

Pooran missed out on reaching the impressive century after Azmatullah Omarzai's direct hit ended his show in the final over. Pooran’s 98 and Johnson Charles's 43 off 27 guided West Indies to 218/5 in 20 overs, the highest total by any team at this edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, surpassing the 201/6 Sri Lanka managed against the Netherlands at the same venue and Australia's 201/7 against England in Barbados. His innings followed by Obed McCoy's three-for helped West Indies bundled out Afghanistan for 114 in 16.4 overs to remain unbeaten in Group C.

Pooran's outstanding 98 was the highest score by any player at this T20 World Cup, surpassing the unbeaten 94 from USA's Aaron Jones against Canada in Dallas.

The wicketkeeper-batter's knock was decorated with eight sixes and six fours. Moreover, Pooran overtook Chris Gayle for the most sixes by a West Indies player in Men's T20I history. "You don’t want to be on 98 and get run-out but it was all about reaching a respectable total. I assessed the conditions early on, we had a good start in the powerplay, I had to take the responsibility in the middle overs with the Afghanistan spinners bowling," Pooran said in the post-match presentation.

"I just felt that it's my night and I could get on with it. It’s difficult to strike the ball when it’s a little slow and spinning, but when you get a good wicket like this, you got to capitalise, got to appreciate the conditions," he added.

During his knock, Pooran also surpassed legendary batter Chris Gayle in the six-hitting fest with 128 sixes in T20Is, four more than the veteran's feat. He also completed 2000 T20I runs for West Indies, becoming the first batter to do so.

Charles and Pooran both clicked into top gear. Charles struck three boundaries in the third over, which inspired Pooran to do something truly out of this world at the change of ends. The keeper-batter exploded, producing a 36-run over off Azmatullah Omarzai’s bowling – 6, 5NB, 5WD, 0, 4LB, 4, 6, 6, ICC reports.

It’s the fifth time in Men’s T20I history an over has gone for 36 runs, the second time at a Men’s World Cup. The final six of the Omarzai over saw the partnership reach 50. The pair continued with the onslaught and surged West Indies’ to 92/1 at the six-over mark, the biggest Powerplay total in Men’s T20 World Cup history. The Player of the Match awardee said Sherfane Rutherford's unbeaten 68* against New Zealand inspired him to play a fearless knock.

Brief scores:

West Indies 218/5 in 20 overs ( Nicholas Pooran 98, J Charles 43; Gulbadin Naib 2-14) beat Afghanistan 114 all out in 16.2 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 38, Obed McCoy 3-14) by 104 runs.