Gayle, WI end W’Cup with win

LEEDS, England (AP):

Chris Gayle waved to all sides of Headingley as he walked off the field for the last time at a Cricket World Cup. Upon reaching the boundary edge, he was met by Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib, who bowed before the West Indies great.

It wasn’t the perfect farewell for the man otherwise known as the ‘Universe Boss’ – Gayle’s last World Cup innings was a scratchy 18-ball seven – but he still made a telling contribution in his own inimitable style.

With his occasional offspin, Gayle took the pivotal wicket of Ikram Ali Khil for 86 that sparked a mini-collapse as Afghanistan stumbled in their pursuit of 312 in a match between the World Cup’s two worst teams yesterday.

The Afghans were dismissed for 288 on the last ball of the match, their highest total at a World Cup but still not enough to avoid a 23-run loss and returning home with a sweep of nine defeats.

Next-to-last West Indies ended the World Cup with two victories – from their first and last games – and moved level on five points with South Africa, who still have a match to play against Australia.

It was a disappointing tournament for the Windies, but at least Gayle had his successful World Cup farewell.

MATCH FIGURES

“There are too many things you can pick from Chris,” said West Indies batsman Shai Hope when asked what he’ll miss most about his charismatic teammate. “He’s just one of those guys that I’m sure the entire world will miss when he goes.”

Gayle – making his record-tying 295th One-Day International (ODI) appearance for the Windies – had bowling figures of 1-28 off his six overs to make up for his batting failure. He had needed 18 runs to top Brian Lara (10,348) as West Indies’ leading scorer in ODIs.

The Windies won the toss and made 311-6 on a good batting strip, with Evin Lewis (58) and Hope (77) scoring half-centuries at the top of the order.

Nicholas Pooran (58 off 43) and Jason Holder (45 off 34, including four sixes) teed off near the end, helping the team rack up 111 runs off the last 10 overs that ultimately proved the difference.

Afghanistan were on track to chase down the target when Gayle, 39, trapped Ikram – at 18, less than half his age – leg before wicket. Two more wickets were lost in the next 13 balls as Afghanistan slipped from 189-2 to 201-5.

Still, 288 was the country’s highest ODI score batting second.

In 15 World Cup matches across two editions, the Afghans have won once – against Scotland in 2015. In Ikram, at least, they have a player to treasure. He made the highest score by an 18-year-old at a World Cup, beating Sachin Tendulkar’s knock of 84 in 1992.

WEST INDIES

C Gayle c wkp Ikram Ali khil b Dawlat Zadran 7

E Lewis c Mohammad Nabi b Rashid Khan 58

+S Hope c Rashid Khan b Mohammad Nabi 77

S Hetmyer c sub (Noor Ali Zadran) b Dawlat Zadran 39

N Pooran run out 58

*J Holder c Dawlat Zadran b Sayed Ahmad Shirzad 45

C Brathwaite not out 14

F Allen not out 0

Extras: (lb4, w9) 13

TOTAL: (6 wkts, 50 overs) 311

Did not bat: K Roach, S Cottrell, O Thomas.

Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Gayle, 5.3 overs), 2-109 (Lewis, 24.5), 3-174 (Hetmyer, 34.5), 4-192 (Hope, 37.4), 5-297 (Pooran, 49.1), 6-297 (Holder, 49.2)

Bowling: Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman 10-0-52-0 (w2), Dawlat Zadran 9-1-73-2 (w1), Sayed Shirzad 8-0-56-1, Gulbadin Naib 3-0-18-0, Mohammad Nabi 10-0-56-1, Rashid Khan 10-0-52-1 (w2).

AFGHANISTAN

*Gulbadin Naib c Lewis b Roach 5

Rahmat Shah c Gayle b Brathwaite 62

+Ikram Ali Khil lbw b Gayle 86

Najibullah Zadran run out 31

Asghar Afghan c Holder b Brathwaite 40

Mohammad Nabi c Allen b Roach 2

Samiullah Shinwari c Hetmyer b Roach 6

Rashid Khan c Holder b Brathwaite 9

Dawlat Zadran c Cottrell b Brathwaite 1

Sayed Shirzad c Allen b Thomas 25

Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman not out 7

Extras: (lb2, w10, nb2) 14

TOTAL: (all out, 50 overs) 288

Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Gulbadin Naib, 1.3 overs), 2-138 (Rahmat Shah, 26.2), 3-189 (Ikram Ali Khil, 35.3), 4-194 (Najibullah Zadran, 35.5), 5-201 (Nabi, 37.4), 6-227 (Samiullah Shinwari, 41.4), 7-244 (Asghar Afghan, 44.2), 8-255 (Dawlat Zadran, 45), 9-260 (Rashid Khan, 46.3), 10-288 (Sayed Shirzad, 50)

Bowling: Cottrell 7-0-43-0 (w3), Roach 10-2-37-3 (w1), Thomas 7-0-43-1, Holder 8-0-46-0 (w2, nb1), Allen 3-0-26-0, Brathwaite 9-0-63-4 (w3, nb1), Gayle 6-0-28-1 (w1).

Result: West Indies won by 23 runs.

Man-of-the-Match: Shai Hope.