"West Indies were incredible": Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan hails WI's history-making powerplay innings

Source: Asian News International (ANI)

Gros Islet [St Lucia], June 18 (ANI): Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan lauded West Indies's "incredible" start in the powerplay and said despite a huge 104-run defeat his side would pocket learnings from the match as they failed in many departments.

Riding on the back of Nicholas Pooran's 98 and Johnson Charles' 43 West Indies registered the record for the highest powerplay score in the history of the T20 World Cup. The Caribbean side accomplished the record by scoring 92 in the first six overs against Afghanistan.

They surpassed the previous record of 91 runs set by the Netherlands against Ireland in 2014 in Bangladesh's Sylhet International Stadium.

The Afghanistan skipper said West Indies batted really well in the Powerplay and it was hard to come back when the side conceded 90 runs in the first six overs. Rashid also said that they still bowled well in the middle overs to restrict the Windies under 220 considering the start the co-hosts received.

"They were incredible with the way they started in the powerplay but we pulled it back in the middle overs and it was a good effort to restrict them to under 220," Rashid said in a post-match presentation.

The 25-year-old bowling all-rounder mentioned that it was important how they execute their plans with the ball and his side will take a lot of learnings from this game. The skipper also said that after being unbeaten in the tournament - before the match against West Indies - the defeat in their last group stage match will help them understand how the side should play in the upcoming matches.

Afghanistan was all out for 114, suffering their first defeat of the World Cup and pocketing some important findings before their second-round tilt.

"It is good that happened in this game and take away the learnings into the next round. There was a strong breeze blowing and bowling into the wicket was the way to go," he added.

Afghanistan skipper said that the strong breeze was a factor and as a bowler, they need to consider which side to bowl and keep the overs under 10 runs.

"As a bowler you need to come up with plans to keep the scoring to below under 10. The morale is still pretty high and this loss does not affect us. We have achieved our first goal of reaching the Super 8s and now it is about taking the next step," Rashid said.

The Super Eight stage commences in Antigua on June 19 with a clash between the USA and South Africa. Afghanistan will take on India in their first Super 8 match in Barbados on Thursday. (ANI)