Afghanistan Delivers Stunning Upset, Topples West Indies in Cricket Match

After beating South Africa in their opening game, Afghanistan took yet another gigantic stride by beating West Indies by 138 runs in Windhoek. Osman Sadat (88) and skipper Mahboob Khan (86) took Afghanistan to 262 for 6 in their allotted overs. The latter in particular blitzed his way through his innings, scoring 86 off just 69 deliveries. His knock consisted of 10 fours and two sixes as Afghanistan put on a competitive total. Jakeem Pollard and Vitel Lawes shared the six wickets amongst them - taking three apiece. In reply, Wahidullah Zadran scalped the openers cheaply before bowling captain Joshua Dorne for a duck as West Indies fell to 21 for 3 in the tough chase. Highly touted youngster Jewel Andrew (57) put on a fight but had no partners from the other end as wickets continued to fall at regular intervals. Nooristani Omarzai broke through the West Indian middle order and ended with figures of 7.2-2-16-4 while Khatir Stanikzai scalped a three-fer as well, as Afghanistan completed yet another famous win. Hosts Zimbabwe were in for a tough contest and they were mauled by England in Harare. Having put Zimbabwe in to bat, England put on a collective bowling performance to restrict the hosts to 208 for 9 in their allotted overs. Manny Lumsden (3-38) led the attack while Ralphie Albert (2-49) and Farhan Ahmed (2-33) were clinical with the ball. After losing Nathaniel Hlabangana for a duck, Zimbabwe's middle-order of Kian Blignaut (33), Dhruv Patel (36), Tatenda Chimugoro (30) and Simbarashe Mudzengerere (45*) put on decent contributions to post a respectable score but none of them could kick on from their start. In reply, captain Thomas Rew (86*) and Ben Mayes (77*) put on a clinical show with the bat. They lost their openers cheaply but the No.3 and No.4 batters punished Zimbabwe. They both scored over a run-a-ball, powering four sixes each and put on an undefeated 167-run partnership for the third wicket as England won with eight wickets and 22 overs to spare. In Bulawayo, New Zealand and USA shared the spoils after rain had the final say and abandoned the contest after only one innings and an over of play was possible. The USA top-order found the going tough against the opening bowlers of New Zealand. Flynn Morey (4-40) and Mason Clarke (3-55) picked up regular wickets as the batting side collapsed from 22/0 to 40/5 in the 10th over. With the going getting tough, Nitish Sudini (117*) dug deep with Shiv Shani (33) and Adit Kappa (40) to bring USA back into the game. Sudini scored a terrific century, bailing USA out of a hole as he batted deep into the innings. Remarkably, the USA batted out the remaining 40 overs to get to 253 for 9. For New Zealand, only one over of play was possible where Hugo Bogue authoritatively pulled Rishabh Shimpi for a four and a six before the heavens opened up. The rain continued to pelt down for over two hours before play was finally called off.