Asghar vows to continue winning streak against WI in WCQ final

KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghanistan’s skipper Asghar Stanikzai has said his side’s target is to win the World Cup Qualifiers (WCQ) trophy as Afghanistan considered the tournament a mini World Cup, a media report says on Saturday.

“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’ll leave no stone unturned in our efforts to fulfill their wishes,” he said.

 “We have beaten them twice in this tournament. We beat them once in their backyard. So, the momentum is with us and we’d like to take it into the final. The West Indies (WI) are a great side, a side which has done more for cricket than any other cricket team. We have the highest respect for them, but at the same time, we will not be overawed by them and will try to win tomorrow.

“Our spinners are the best in the world. They not only showed their magic against the WI in the Super Six, but in other matches. I think we lost matches in the tournament not because of them but because of change in captaincy due to my absence. Except once, I don’t remember when any side chased down 250 plus against us, until Scotland did this in Bulawayo.

Both the WI and Afghanistan have already qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, to be staged in England and Wales from 30 May to 14 July, but Sunday’s final is expected to be another cut-throat match for a number of reasons.

WI Captain Jason Holder said it was a good opportunity to win the tournament. “We felt we have done some really good things so far, we’ve 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.

“I don’t think we have played the perfect game as yet. We’ve done some really good things but I don’t think we have strung together the performances in batting, bowling and fielding, so that is my challenge to get into this last encounter, to end this tour on a high and win this final.”

The ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 will have new winners on Sunday when number one seeds the Windies and second-seeded Afghanistan will face each other in the final before broadcast cameras at the Harare Sports Club.

This is the Windies’ maiden appearance in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier after they failed to qualify directly for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 by finishing outside the top eight on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings at the 30 September 2017 cut-off.

Afghanistan played in the qualifiers in 2009 in South Africa and finished fifth, but didn’t compete in the 2014 qualifier after having progressed to the 2015 World Cup by virtue of finishing second to Ireland in the ICC World Cricket League Championship.

Sunday’s winners will join Sri Lanka (1979), Zimbabwe (1982, 1986 and 1990), United Arab Emirates (1994), Bangladesh (1997), Netherlands (2001), Scotland (2005 and 2014) and Ireland (2009) to lift the silverware of one of the most competitive and keenly-contested tournaments on the cricket calendar.

Both the Windies and Afghanistan have already qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, to be staged in England and Wales from 30 May to 14 July, but Sunday’s final is expected to be another cut-throat match for a number of reasons.

The Windies, two-time former world champions, are yet to beat Afghanistan in this tournament, having lost their warm-up match by 29 runs after Dawlat Zadran’s hat-trick, while 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.

Rashid Khan, the world number-one ranked bowler, is just one wicket away from becoming the fastest to 100 wickets. He presently has 99 wickets from 43 ODIs, while Mitchell Starc achieved the 100-wicket milestone in his 52^nd ODI.

On a head to head, Afghanistan lead the Windies 2-1, while their one match in St Lucia was a no-result.

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