West Indies vs Afghanistan, 40th Match, Group C at Gros Islet, T20 World Cup, Jun 17 2024 - Match Result

Well, that's all from us. The Group Stage is done and dusted. The next time we meet, it will be the Super Eight stage, and South Africa v USA will kick that off in about 36 hours. Thank you for your company. Take care!

12.05am Stick around for the presentation. We'll hear from the two captains soon.

Rashid Khan: The way they batted, scoring around 90 runs in the powerplay, it is tough to come back from that. But in the middle overs we did well and it was good to restrict them under 200. But this game is good to understand mindset and strategy. Hope to not repeat. (Learnings) Good for us to keep it simple and not experiment. Better to stick with strengths on wickets like these than try too much. Hope to do better when it comes to similar pitches. (Big loss will affect Afghanistan?) Don't think so. We've achieved what we wanted - to get Super Eight. The different pitches coming up... we'll adjust to them. Good learning this loss happened at this stage, not in a do-or-die game. We take the positives with us, like fielding, middle-overs bowling and Noor's spell."

Rovman Powell: (On eight straight wins) Shows hard work is paying off. (Motivation) The guys were excited to come here. We knew here will be one of the better wickets of the competition. After Guyana and Trinidad, the batters wanted to come here and get runs. (Pooran) I think it is on the back of hard work. He has had a very good 12 months. Good to see him score runs not only in franchise cricket but also for WI. (McCoy's bowling today) When I was bowling, I was telling him that we now have a headache [when it comes to selection]. We are playing in the West Indies, and it is our responsibility to make full use of home conditions. (Home fans) When we started the journey, we were 8th or 9th in the world. Now we are around 3rd in the world, and when you do well, the fans start believing. Guyana was lovely, Trinidad was a packed house, and to see the support St Lucia has given, it is amazing. (Sammy, head coach) I extend my thanks to him and our management. I have started as a young captain, but they have given me what I want. It has been a driving force in my success as a captain and in them believing in me as a leader."

A reminder that today's result made no difference to the Super Eight line-ups because pre-seeding by the ICC had determined it already. Group 1 will have Afghanistan, India, Australia and Bangladesh. Group 2 will have the two co-hosts West Indies and USA, and with them South Africa and England.

11.40pm Once Afghanistan began the second innings conceding a wicket-maiden over courtesy Akeal Hosein's drifting deliveries, the chase appeared very tough. It only got tougher when Afghanistan slipped from 45 for 1 to 59 for 4 in the space of two overs just after the powerplay ended. Obed McCoy then got stuck in with a searing three-over spell of 3 for 14, complementing the spinners Hosein and Gudakesh Motie spectacularly, and the other pacers picked off the tail to complete an all-round dominating show.

But don't forget the men who set up the game for West indies. Johnson Charles (43), Shai Hope (25) and Rovman Powell (26) got important runs, and played the perfect role as second-fiddle to Nicholas Pooran. Pooran smacked the tournament's highest individual score and led West Indies to the tournament's highest team total, and it was only a run-out that could stop him from getting to a ton. His 98 included eight sixes, and that has helped him go past Chris Gayle (124 sixes) as West Indies' most decorated T20I six-hitter. That's quite the achievement for the man who is still only 28.

Pooran is also the Player of the Match. He talks about the ebb and flow of his innings, here are some highlights from his quotes (not verbatim): "I had to see the conditions early and take responsibility. In West Indies people want fours and sixes but you can't do that everytime, but when conditions allow, you should capitalise. We wanted to be consistent as a team from 12-14 months ago."

Alzarri.

Taha: "Love to support West Indies. Fun team to watch (has nothing to do with being a Pakistani and not having a team to support)" -- Dil Dil West Indies era? Niiice!

Mahesh Balaji: "Recency bias seems to be the major influence in fans predicting teams' performances. Until yesterday, many, pundits included, were predicting Afg to reach finals and even win the cup. Today, it's the WI and Aus that are predicted to be the finalists. Afg can still have good days on bowling-friendly pitches. WI bowling can still be taken apart by an accomplished batting order. "