Afghanistan's Zadran, Rasooli Lead Dominant Victory Over West Indies

Afghanistan secured a commanding 38-run win over West Indies in the first T20I, thanks to brilliant performances from Ibrahim Zadran and Darwish Rasooli. Zadran scored an unbeaten 87 off 56 balls, while Rasooli contributed 84 off 59 balls, putting up a massive 162-run partnership for the third wicket. Afghanistan was in early trouble, losing Gurbaz and Atal to leave them 19/2, but Ibrahim Zadran (87*) and Darwish Rasooli (84) turned the game around with a massive 162-run partnership. Zadran's straight-bat shots and Rasooli's aggressive cross-batted strokes took Afghanistan to 182. Rasooli was particularly brutal on Khary Pierre, hitting him for 4, 6, and 4 in the 15th over. This partnership set up Afghanistan's commanding 38-run win over West Indies. Bad luck, worse catching for West Indies The pair was helped by a sequence of eight balls that saw three drops in the outfield during the 18th and 19th over. Seales and Joseph both were employing slower balls and cutters to great effect, but luck was not on their side. First, Gudakesh Motie dropped a sitter at long-on off Rasooli; in the same over, Evin Lewis ran in from deep midwicket to drop Zadran. Soon after, Zadran was dropped once again by Hetmeyer at long-off. By the time Rasooli had finally holed out going for a pull off the last ball of the innings, the pair had piled on their 162-run partnership in the space of 17.4 overs. West Indies struggled to chase the target of 182, with Afghanistan's spinners, led by Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, dismantling their batting lineup. Rasooli was named Player of the Match for his outstanding batting and fielding. Afghanistan 181 for 3 (Zadran 87*, Rasooli 84, Seales 1-30) beat West Indies 143 for 9 (Sampson 30, Ziaur 3-36, Rashid 2-19) by 38 runs