King finds positives in defeat, demands improvement

LENNOX ALDRED

West Indies captain Brandon King pinpointed moments of individual promise. Still, he demanded all-around improvement from his side after a 39-run defeat to Afghanistan sealed a 2-0 series loss in Dubai yesterday.

Again, the regional side showed their frailties in the field in the second game, more dropped catches that cost them dearly in the end.

Reflecting on the bowlers' efforts across the two games, King highlighted several performers who may just have impressed a bit to gain selection to the final World Cup squad.

"A few of the bowlers have done well," he said. "Gudakesh Motie in the first game obviously bowled a really good spell, Jayden Seales as well, in the first game. I think Matthew Forde came back well in this game, bowling some good spells. So there are some positives to look at."

Chasing 190, a 68-run partnership between King, who made 50 and Shimron Hetmyer, 46, offered a glimmer of hope.

The skipper explained their straightforward plan during the chase.

"It was pretty simple for us. We tried to target the shorter boundary, you know, being a left-right combination. Hetmyer was going a bit better than me, and it was good to see. We tried to bring it as late as possible, to carry that partnership as deep as possible, but it didn't work out for us."

Their dismissal triggered a spectacular collapse, engineered by Afghanistan's Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who claimed a maiden T20I hat-trick on his way to figures of four for 21. From 106 for four, the West Indies crumbled to 150 all out.

With the series gone, King's focus shifted squarely to the fundamentals ahead of Thursday's final fixture.

"We are just looking for improvement in all three departments of the game. Obviously, fielding for sure. We dropped a few catches again this game, and that will help us to restrict them to a lower total. Obviously, we want some better starts with the bat, to set up a foundation for the backend hitters to finish the game. So improvement all around, and hopefully we'll just get better with each game."

The comprehensive victory was set up by Afghanistan's batsmen.

Darwish Rasooli struck a fluent 68, his third successive T20I fifty, and shared a decisive 115-run stand with Sediqullah Atal, who made 53, guiding the hosts to 189 for 4.

The result secures a hat-trick of T20I series wins for Afghanistan, who play their final match today before the T20 World Cup. The West Indies, meanwhile, will seek a consolation win before departing for their tour of South Africa.