Afganistan seal T20I series win over West Indies, Mujeeb takes hat-trick

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Mujeeb Ur Rahman took a hat-trick as Afghanistan beat West Indies by 39 runs to clinch a 2-0 T20I series win with a game to spare.

Mujeeb’s brilliant figures of 4-21 from his four overs came after Sediqullah Atal and Darwish Rasooli’s 115-run partnership with the bat helped Afghanistan set a target of 190.

Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (one) and Ibrahim Zadran (22) both fell inside the powerplay after being put into bat, with Matthew Forde (2-25) making a strong start with the ball.

However, Atal (53) and Rasooli (68) steadied the ship before Azmatullah Omarzai (26 not out off 13 balls) gave Afghanistan a strong finish to their innings.

Alick Athanaze (eight) lost his wicket cheaply in the third over of the chase, being run out by Zadran, before Mujeeb dismissed Evin Lewis (13) and Johnson Charles (0) with the final two balls of the eighth over.

Brandon King (50) kept West Indies in the game, but Mujeeb came back on in the 16th over to complete his hat-trick, while Shimron Hetmyer’s quickfire 46 off 17 was not enough as the Windies were bowled out for 150.

Data Debrief: Three of the best for Mujeeb

After bowling Charles, trapping Lewis for LBW and seeing King caught by Rasooli, Mujeeb became just the third Afghanistan player to take a hat-trick in the shortest format, after Rashid Khan and Karim Janat.

The spinner now has 82 wickets for his country, the third-most behind Mohammed Nabi (104) and Khan (183), who also took a wicket in this victory.