Windies down Afghanistan to claim series

West Indies claimed the one-day series against Afghanistan with a game to play after a 47-run victory in Saturday’s second match. The tourists batted first in Lucknow and made 247-9 from their 50 overs, with Nicholas Pooran’s 67 the top score. There were also decent contributions from Evin Lewis, who made 54, while Shai Hope (43) and Shimron Hetmyer (34) all chipped in to set the hosts a challenging if not unobtainable target. The Asians needed a solid start but Javed Ahmadi fell for a fourth-ball duck before Hazratullah Zazai (23) and Rahmat Shah (33) steadied the ship. However, wickets tumbled and it was left to Najibullah Zadran (56) and Mohammad Nabi (32) to mount some resistance in the middle order. Their 68-run partnership was to no avail as the Afghans were all out for 200, with Romario Shepherd, Roston Chase and Sheldon Cottrell taking three wickets each.