Rejuvenated Afghanistan target historic series win

Overview

Afghanistan v West Indies, 3rd T20I
Ekana International Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
Sunday, 17 November; 07:00pm local, 12:30am GMT

Afghanistan's 41-run win on Saturday was their first victory in six completed international matches this series – they had lost each of the three ODIs before going down in the first T20I as well. The star of the show was 21-year-old Karim Janat, who produced a match-defining spell of 5/11 from his four overs to set up the win. Afghanistan's batting, which has been their main issue, still appears scratchy though. None of their batsmen have been able to convert their starts in the two T20Is so far, with as many as eight scores in twenties across the two completed games.

Afghanistan have never won a bilateral series against any of the top ten teams in the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Rankings, except for Bangladesh whom they had whitewashed 3-0 last year. Their win in the second T20I has opened their chances to register one against the two-time ICC Men's T20 World Cup title-holders.

West Indies will view the result as a bit of an eye-opener. Much like Afghanistan, their bowling has been top-class, with Kesrick Williams leading the way with six scalps from two games at an impressive economy of 6.67. Kieron Pollard will expect better application from his batters in the final game.

Remember the last time:

Afghanistan got off to a flying start, racing to 41/0 in four overs, after Rashid Khan had won the toss and opted to bat in the second T20I. However, they lost both their openers off successive balls to Kesrick Williams, which dented their progress. Janat showed some promise, hitting five boundaries, before being trapped lbw by Jason Holder for 26. There wasn't any significant contribution in the innings thereafter, with Gulbadin Naib's 18-ball 24 guiding Afghanistan to 147/7 at the end of first innings.

West Indies lost Brandon King early in the chase for 12, but the mayhem was yet to come. Karim Janat produced an enterprising spell of bowling to remove Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Sherfane Rutherford and Kieron Pollard in his first three overs to reduce the visitors to 54/5 in the 12th over. He then returned for his final spell to rattle Keemo Paul's stumps to register a fifer, to power his side to an emphatic 41-run win.

What they said:

Rashid Khan, Afghanistan captain: "We have a world-class bowling attack and we knew we could defend. It was a much-needed win for us. We have the momentum going into the final. We have to give our 100 percent and enjoy our cricket. That's what we did today."

Kieron Pollard, West Indies captain:"We just have 24 hours to wrong the rights, and hopefully we come back and do those things right in the final game. 1-1 is a virtual final, and you'd want to see how the guys react. Happy times for us in terms of how we have played through this series. We need to have conversations on what to improve for the decider."

Conditions:

The weather is expected to be clear with light winds blowing across during the evening hours. Teams batting first have won each of the three T20Is at the venue, including the first two games of the ongoing series at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium and so, it won't come as a surprise if the captain winning the toss opts to bat.