The ICC Cricket World Cup qualifier will have a new winner on Sunday when West Indies, the No. 1 seed, takes on second-seeded Afghanistan in the final.
This is the Windies’ maiden appearance in the qualifier after it failed to qualify directly for the 2019, finishing outside the top eight on the ICC ODI team rankings at the September 30, 2017, cut-off.
Afghanistan played in the qualifier in 2009 in South Africa and finished fifth, but did not compete in the 2014 qualifier after progressing to the 2015 World Cup by virtue of taking the second spot behind Ireland in the ICC World Cricket League championship.
Sunday’s winner will join Sri Lanka (1979), Zimbabwe (1982, 1986 and 1990), UAE (1994), Bangladesh (1997), The Netherlands (2001), Scotland (2005 and 2014) and Ireland (2009) to lift the silverware of one of the most competitive and keenly-contested tournaments in the calendar.
Both the Windies and Afghanistan have already qualified for the 2019 edition to be staged in England and Wales from May 30 to July 14, but Sunday’s final is expected to be another close match for a number of reasons.
West Indies, two-time former World champion, lost the warm-up match to Afghanistan by 29 runs after Dawlat Zadran’s hat-trick. In the Super Six encounter, Afghanistan prevailed over the Caribbean side by three wickets following Mujeeb Rahman’s three for 33 and Rahmat Shah’s 68.
Leg-spinner Rashid Khan is just one wicket away from becoming the fastest to 100 wickets. His 99 wickets have come in 43 ODIs, while Mitchell Starc achieved the 100-wicket milestone in his 52nd ODI.
On a head to head, Afghanistan lead the Windies 2-1, while their one match in St Lucia was a no-result.
Looking ahead to the final, the Windies captain Jason Holder said: “Obviously, it is a good opportunity to win the tournament. We felt we have done some really good things so far, we have obviously qualified for the World Cup, which was our first priority and obviously, coming into the final, it means a lot to us to finish off the tournament well and win it.”
Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai said tomorrow’s match will be the biggest for his country and his side was looking forward to it.
“A final against the Windies, a side we all followed as young kids. I don’t think it can get any bigger for Afghanistan,” he said.
“For Afghanistan, the World Cup qualifier is a mini-World Cup and having now qualified for the World Cup, the target is to win this trophy and take it back to Kabul. The people of Afghanistan want to see this trophy in Afghanistan and we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to fulfil their wishes,” he added. PTI PDS PDS 03241913
