ICC CWC 2019 Preview: West Indies vs. Afghanistan; Can Afghanistan win and leave on a high?

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In the qualifiers for the ICC Cricket World Cup, the massive minnows and the ultimate underdogs Afghanistan had defeated the once mighty West Indies, which had in turn made the Windies’ qualification to the World Cup tougher. However, it was not just about a tougher road to the World Cup, it was also a big blemish on West Indies cricket as they lost to one of the weakest teams in Cricketing history who had only started playing the game just a few years ago. Thus, as openly stated by the West Indies captain Jason Holder, the Windies are indeed looking for revenge.

In the race for the ICC CWC 2019’s semi finals, both these teams, i.e. West Indies and Afghanistan have already been knocked out. While West Indies did manage to win a single game, their first match against Pakistan, Afghanistan have failed to do even that and are still looking for their first victory.

Afghanistan’s major troubles have somewhat been off the field considering that they were always a much weaker side compared to other nations in this tournament. Their talismanic wicket-keeper batsman Mohd. Shahzad was called home in a controversial manner mid tournament and that has affected the morale of the team.

Their batting department has struggled massively in this tournament. Their bowlers have still done comparatively well apart from that one game against England.

On the other hand, West Indies have neither really bowled well, nor batted well, nor fielded well. They are a team who look like they massively lack the required motivation and hunger to win.

While on paper, West Indies do have far better players than Afghanistan who should absolutely steamroll through Afghanistan, but that is certainly not the case and the Afghans will certainly fancy their chances against the Carribean team.

This match is a tough one to predict, but I will still put my money on West Indies to get the job done.

 

 

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