Twitter Reactions: Rashid Khan runs through West Indies batting line-up

Afghanistan's premier spinner took 7 wickets, giving away just 18 runs to bowl Afghanistan to their first win vs West Indies in One Day Internationals.

By Sachin Sourav Jha

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Marlon Samuels
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Marlon Samuels of Windies. (Photo by RANDY BROOKS/AFP/Getty Images)

Rashid Khan had a very successful season in the IPL where he finished taking 17 wickets in 14 games. The 18-year-old Afganistan leg-spinner further enhanced his reputation by destroying West Indies batting line up in the opening fixture of the three-match series. Afghanistan’s premier spinner took 7 wickets, giving away just 18 runs to bowl Afghanistan to their first win vs West Indies in One Day Internationals.

Defending a small total

Earlier Afganistan had won the toss and elected to bat first at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia. Afganistan struggled to get any momentum but opener Javed Ahmadi’s 82 and some good striking by Gulbadin Naib, in the end, allowed Afganistan to reach a competitive score of 212

Surprisingly Afganistan captain, Asghar Stanikzai waited for 22 overs before bringing Rashid Khan into the attack. Rashid Khan then had an instant devastating impact on the West Indies, taking 2 wickets with his first 2 deliveries. At one point he had figures of 4 wickets giving away just a solitary run. West Indies were not able to recover from this collapse and folded up for a meager 148, with Rashid Khan finishing 7 wickets.

Rashid Khan was deservedly awarded man of the match award. “I have worked hard on my bowling and this was a really special effort for the people of Afghanistan who have suffered so much in the past week,” said Khan on receiving the “Man of the Match” award and acknowledging the devastating truck bombing that killed more than 150 people in Kabul last week

Point of no return for West Indies cricket

West Indies’ captain Jason Holder seemed disappointed with his side’s capitulation. “There’s really no explanation for what happened out there other than we were not professional in the way we went about getting those runs,” Jason Holder said as quoted by the Hindustan Times

West Indies cricket is possibly going through it’s worst phase, they missed out on Qualification for the Champions Trophy and just when we thought it can’t get any worse for them, this capitulation against the ‘minnows’ makes people wonder if they would similarly miss out on World Cup 2019 too.

As for Afganistan, they are one of the most rapidly improving international teams and with emerging talent like Rashid Khan in their ranks, they can be one of the teams to look out for in future.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to this turnaround

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