Springer bags hat-trick as West Indies deny Afghanistan 3-0 sweep

Shamar Springer bagged a hat-trick in the penultimate over as West Indies fought back to deny Afghanistan a 3-0 sweep in Dubai. Springer, who got a game in place of Shamar Joseph, dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rashid Khan and Shahidullah with clever pace and length variations to make his case for the T20 World Cup.

Springer's terrific 19th over, which cost West Indies just five runs, left Ramon Simmonds with 19 to defend off the 20th. The rookie left-arm quick, who is also vying for a place in West Indies' T20 World Cup squad, sealed West Indies' win with a collection of yorkers and hard-to-hit low full tosses.

A West Indies win had looked especially unlikely after Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran had added 59 in seven overs in Afghanistan's chase of 152. Guided by Gurbaz's half-century, Afghanistan remained in control for the most part, until Springer's intervention in the 19th over. The allrounder became the third West Indies player after Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd to take a hat-trick in men's T20Is. He celebrated the feat with his signature chest roll and upstaged Rashid Khan, who had bowled a boundary-less spell of 4-0-13-2 earlier in the day.

After being asked to bat, West Indies could manage only 27 in four overs. Johnson Charles had moved back to the top in the absence of Alick Athanaze and Evin Lewis, the latter missing this game with a neck injury sustained on Wednesday. Charles laboured to a run-a-ball 17 before he exposed his stumps to Shahidullah, only to be bowled.

King, the stand-in captain, pumped Shahidullah and Mujeeb Ur Rahman for sixes in the powerplay, but couldn't get Afghanistan's spin ace Rashid away. The wristspinner had King holing out for 47 off 35 balls and gave him a feisty send-off in the 15th over.

In the same over, Rashid bowled Shimron Hetmyer around his legs for 13 off six balls. While Hetmyer was bewildered by the manner of dismissal, it was business as usual for Rashid, who got his wrong'uns and legbreaks to fizz off the pitch. Rashid is now only six strikes away from becoming the first player to 700 T20 wickets.

Matthew Forde and Springer then turned up the tempo, helping West Indies take 40 from the last three overs of their innings. Forde cracked Zaiur Rahman Sharifi for two sixes during his 27 off 11 balls, while Springer picked away Abdollah Ahmadzai for a brace of fours in the 19th over. Springer would make a more telling impact with the ball in the 19th over of the second innings.

Gurbaz had a quiet start - he scored only 17 off 19 balls in the powerplay - but found his bearings in the seventh over when he clattered seam-bowling allrounder Justin Greaves for three fours in a 14-run over. After Forde cut Zadran's innings short on 28 off 27 balls, Gurbaz pressed on to bring up his fifty off 44 balls. He narrowed Afghanistan's equation to 58 off 36 balls with nine wickets in hand.

It was Springer who kickstarted West Indies' comeback by having Sediqullah Atal nicking a short ball behind to the keeper for 7 off 11 balls. Khary Pierre then pinned Darwish Rasooli lbw for 4 off six balls to create more tension. Gurbaz, however, diffused some of that tension when he jumped across off and swept Pierre for back-to-back fours in his next over.

It came down to Afghanistan needing 25 off 12 balls. Springer first had Gurbaz caught at the midwicket boundary, with Fore pulling off a hokey-pokey catch, for 71 off 58 balls. Next ball, he had Rashid scything one with his wrists to deep third, with Pierre completing a tumbling catch. West Indies dropped at least eight catches across three matches, according to ESPNcricinfo's logs, but their fielders stepped up in the end overs on Thursday.

Springer completed the hat-trick by yorking Shaidullah. Though Mujeeb put the last ball of the over away for four, Afghanistan were left with too much to do in the end.

While this was Afghanistan's last T20I before they head to India for the T20 World Cup, West Indies will travel to South Africa for a three-match T20I series before they arrive in Kolkata, the scene of their 2016 T20 World Cup win.