West Indies v Afghanistan: Series decider washed out, Stuart Law skeptical about WI's 2019 chances

It all turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax to the interesting contest between Afghanistan and West Indies in the Caribbean Islands. After being thoroughly beaten in the T20I series, team Afghanistan did a splendid job by stunning the hosts in a historic win in the first ODI. The hosts were beaten and bruised. They came back strongly in the second game to level the series with a game to play.

However, the third and the final ODI of the series ended up being washed out affair. The Afghanistani skipper had won the toss and had opted to bat first. Soon after the toss, the rain poured down again and the match was called off without a ball being bowled. The series is done and dusted and so seems the chances of West Indies of directly qualifying for the ICC World Cup 2019.

They are currently ranked number 9 and their performances are nowhere close to being impressive at the moment. West Indies coach Stuart Law had spoken about the same prior to the final ODI fixture. Even if they would have managed to win the final ODI against Afghanistan, they would have still lost a point in the rankings.

Focus on the India series

However, Stuart Law stressed that they cannot use their inexperience in the format as an excuse. He hopes that the team comes up with better show in the upcoming fixtures against India and England.

“But we can’t be focussed on that. We have to be up for this contest, and then the next series against India. If we can win a couple of games, and then a couple against England, I’m sure we can climb the ladder. Whether or not we get direct entry into the World Cup, I’m not sure,” Law had quoted as per the quotes in ESPNcricinfo.