Narine snaps Afghanistan's winning streak

Sunil Narine snared three wickets and bamboozled Afghanistan to set up a six-wicket win for West Indies in the first fixture of a three-match Twenty20 International series at Warner Park in St Kitts on Friday.

The crafty off spinner was at his best, taking 3 for 11 as the visiting side was dismissed for 110 batting first.

Marlon Samuels then struck a fluent 35 to lead the home side’s romp to victory with almost four overs to spare to take a 1-0 lead ahead of the second match at the same venue on Saturday.

Asghar Stanikzai, the captain, chose to bat first, but Afghanistan was a bit too impatient.

It slipped to 58 for 8 in the 14th over and was in danger of being bowled for less than its previous lowest T20I score of 72.

However, Rashid Khan, with a T20I best of 33, and 21 from Amir Hamza gave the innings a measure of respectability as 52 runs were added by the last two wickets.

Rashid and Hamza then hinted at what might have been possible with a more competitive total as the two specialist spinners proved more than a handful for Samuels and the other frontline West Indies batsmen.

Shapoor Zadran, the medium pacer, claimed two expensive wickets but it was the guile and variations of the slow bowlers which presented the greatest challenge.

West Indies went into the match without Kieron Pollard, who is sidelined with the flu. Ronsford Beaton, the uncapped fast bowler, was the other player omitted from the squad of 13.

Afghanistan retained the same XI which defeated a Cricket West Indies President’s XI in a warm-up match at the same venue two days earlier.