Lucknow:Shai Hope hit a sparkling 108 not out to guide his side to a five-wicket victory over Afghanistan here, giving West Indies their first ODI whitewash since beating Bangladesh in 2014.
With an already unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, West Indies made two changes to their side. Jason Holder and Sheldon Cottrell dropped out with Brandon King making his ODI debut and Keemo Paul coming into the side.
For Afghanistan, 17-year-old Ibrahim Zadran entered the fray for his ODI bow.The young opener was immediately in the limelight as Windies skipper Kieron Pollard won the toss and elected to field first. Ibrahim was the first wicket to fall, trapped lbw by Alzarri Joseph. Rahmat Shah joined Hazratullah Zazai but couldn't stick around for long, giving Paul his first wicket. Paul had his second wicket eight overs later when he bowled Ikram Ali Khil.
Zazai was going well, but upon reaching fifty he was the fourth wicket to fall, leavingAfghanistan in a spot of bother at 74/4, an ICC report said.
The experienced duo of Asghar Afghan and Najibullah Zadran began rebuilding the Afghanistan innings, adding 44 for the fifth wicket, but just as the run-rate was increasing,
Najibullah fell for 30. Nevertheless, Mohammad Nabi arrived to keep things ticking.
It wasn't until the final five overs of the innings that the pair unleashed, with 44 runs
coming from it, although Asghar was dismissed for 86 in the penultimate over. Nabi ended
the innings unbeaten on 50 not out.
West Indies' run chase got off to the worst possible start as Mujeeb Ur Rahman struck
twice in the third over, with Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer both falling lbw to the spinner.
As so often is the case, Hope was key to the run-chase, and alongside debutant Brandon
King, he helped West Indies move to 68 before King fell to Rashid Khan.
Hope reached his half-century from 76 balls, continuing his fine form in the series, but
Nicolas Pooran's dismissal made things tougher.
Kieron Pollard joined Hope and the run-chase sparked into life when the final three balls
of the 35th over were hit for 4, 6 and 6 by the West Indies captain, leaving his side requiring
85 runs from 15 overs with six wickets in hand.
Hope continued to accumulate and reached his seventh ODI century in the 45th over.
Alongside Roston Chase, Hope steered West Indies to a victory. The pair added 71 runs,
with Chase finishing 42 not out and Hope 108 not out.
Brief score:
Afghanistan - 249/7
West Indies - 253/5
UNI
