Afghanistan aim to end winless streak

Overview

Afghanistan v West Indies, 2nd ODI
Ekana International Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
Saturday, 9 November; 02:00pm local, 08:30am GMT

After emphatic wins in the one-off Test and the T20I tri-series in Bangladesh, Rashid Khan's tenure as Afghanistan's regular captain in ODIs began with a seven-wicket defeat against West Indies on Wednesday in Lucknow. The magnitude of the result might concede that they were outplayed, but there were moments in the game from where they could dominate, but handed the advantage to the opposition instead – not much different to what has transpired in the past.

They were in a position of strength at 126/2 in the 27th over after being put in to bat, but lost their way thereafter to stumble to 194 in the 46th. Rashid and Mohammad Nabi, their most experienced bowlers, bowled with discipline, but both failed to snare a wicket – something which they will look to address in the upcoming games.

Meanwhile, a change in leadership saw West Indies put up a complete performance under new limited-overs skipper Kieron Pollard. Their bowling was top notch, with former skipper Jason Holder leading the way with 2/21 from his 10 overs.

The visitors now have a chance to wrap up the series, for their first series win since August 2014.

Remember the last time

Sheldon Cottrell and Holder reduced Afghanistan to 15/2 in the sixth over after Pollard opted to bowl. Rahmat Shah and Ikram Ali Khil revived the innings with a 111-run partnership at a steady pace, but Ikram's run-out marked the start of a collapse, which saw Afghanistan lose their last eight wickets for 68 runs.

Chasing 195 to win, West Indies too lost two quick wickets, but with no scoreboard pressure as such, it required just one significant partnership to take complete control. The ever-reliable Shai Hope and Roston Chase did exactly that, scoring an unbeaten 77 and 94 respectively, to power their team to a comfortable seven-wicket win.

What they said

Rashid Khan, Afghanistan captain: "I think they gave us the opportunities initially but we could not capitalise on the momentum. Credit to them. Every match is a lesson and we've to learn from it. We'll take the positives from here, looking to improve from here."

Kieron Pollard, West Indies captain: "Losing early wickets and not batting 50 overs is something that has been haunting us for a long time. Two guys showed the way, Hope and Chase. We've been talking about how we want to play cricket. We want to play every game with the same intensity."

Conditions

Light winds are expected on a sunny day with temperatures hovering around 25-30°C. With conditions helpful for new-ball bowlers early on and considering the previous game's result, both captains will be tempted to field first.