West Indies’ Shamar Springer picked up a last-gasp hat-trick to deny Afghanistan a 3-0 series sweep on Thursday (January 22).
Shamar Springer picks second hat-trick of the AFG vs WI series
Springer dismissed three Afghanistan batters on the trot in the penultimate over of the third T20I to hand his side a 15-run win. With 25 needed off 12 and six wickets in the bank, Afghanistan were the favourites to chase down 152, but the pacer disrupted their plans.
Springer had half-centurion Rahmanullah Gurbaz caught on the deep square leg boundary by Matthew Forde on the first ball of the over. Rashid Khan was then caught at backward point before a pinpoint yorker marked the end of Shahidullah’s stay and handed the West Indies pacer his first T20I hat-trick.
With the feat, he became the third West Indian bowler, after Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd, to pick up a T20I hat-trick. Notably, this was the second hat-trick of the series, with Mujeeb Ur Rahman bagging one in the second T20I, making this a first instance of multiple hat-tricks being taken in a men's T20I series between two Full Member sides.
Mujeeb had dismissed Evin Lewis and Johnson Charles on the final two deliveries of the eighth over of West Indies’ innings, before getting the better of Brandon King on the first ball of the 16th over. His heroics ensured Afghanistan won by 39 runs and sealed the series. They had won the first game by 38 runs.
Team effort saves West Indies from 3-0 clean sweep
Batting first in the third T20I in Dubai, captain King was the Caribbean side’s top-scorer with a 35-ball 47. All of the other top-five batters got into double digits but couldn’t convert their starts, and it needed a rearguard effort from Forde (27 off 11) and Springer (16 off 9) to take them past 150.
In reply, Afghanistan looked on course after Gurbaz (71) and Ibrahim Zadran (28) added 72 runs for the opening wicket in 10 overs. But they lost the plot, scoring just 43 runs in the next seven overs while losing four wickets. A 12-run 18th over brought them back into the chase, but Springer’s hat-trick closed the gate on them.
3rd T20I, Afghanistan vs West Indies
vs
- Ball by ball Over
This was the Asian side’s final assignment before they kick off their T20 World Cup campaign against New Zealand on February 8. West Indies, meanwhile, will now tour South Africa for another three-T20I series, starting Tuesday (January 27).
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
