Jason Holder finishes Afghanistan off before West Indies rush to victory
Afghanistan's second innings lasted only 7.1 overs on the third morning
The Report by Hemant Brar
29-Nov-2019
The West Indies players pose with the trophy • AFP
West Indies 277 (Brooks 111, Campbell 55, Hamza 5-74) and 33 for 1 (Campbell 19*, Hamza 1-5) beat Afghanistan 187 (Ahmadi 39, Cornwall 7-75) and 120 (Ahmadi 62, Chase 3-10, Holder 3-20, Cornwall 3-46) by nine wickets
West Indies took just an hour on the third morning to wrap up the one-off Test against Afghanistan, winning by nine wickets in Lucknow.
Resuming the day on 109 for 7 in their second innings - under floodlights due to poor visibility - Afghanistan could last only 7.1 more overs as Jason Holder picked up the remaining three wickets. Rashid Khan fell to Holder's first ball of the day with Shane Dowrich taking a wobbling catch diving to his right.
Next, with Afsar Zazai trying to farm the strike, Holder flattened Yamin Ahmadzai's off stump when he got the opportunity.
In his next over, the West Indies captain dismissed Zazai too as Afghanistan were bowled out for 120. Holder finished with figures of 3 for 20, his unexpected decision to bowl after winning the toss two days ago now just a distant memory.
Set 31 to win, West Indies eased to the victory but not before Amir Hamza got Kraigg Brathwaite caught behind for eight. The Barbados batsman now averages 12.26 in his last ten Tests with a highest score of 49.
For debutant Hamza, it was a good outing personally as he finished with six wickets in the match, apart from hitting 34 from No. 9 in Afghanistan's first innings.
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo