Giant spinner Rakheem Cornwall starred as the West Indies thrashed Afghanistan by nine wickets early on day three of their one-off Test on Friday. Cornwall took a match haul of 10 wickets as the West Indies bowled out Afghanistan for 120 on day three and reached their target of 31 to seal the win in just over an hour of the first session in Lucknow. It was a reality check for Afghanistan, who were awarded Test status in 2017 and won their first two victories in the five-day format earlier this year.
Skipper Jason Holder claimed all three Afghan wickets to fall in the morning as the Windies needed just 7.1 overs to see off Afghanistan after they resumed the day on 109 for seven.
“Really important win. We had a tough series against India. Was important to finish the year well,” said Holder, whose team suffered a 2-0 whitewash against India at home in August and September.
“Very pleasing to see new guys come in and take the opportunity. Shamarh (Brooks) did that. He scored a fifty in the last innings and followed it with a hundred here. And then Rahkeem getting seven in the first innings, in just his second Test, is amazing.”
