Windies demolish Afghanistan by 9 wickets in warm-up

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CMC) - West Indies Under 19s scored a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan Under 19s on Monday in a warm-up game ahead of the ICC Under-19 World Cup here.

Afghanistan were bowled out for 84 runs in 39.4 of the allotted 50 overs while the Caribbean side surpassed the target in 18.4 overs, losing one wicket at ICC Academy Ground No 2.

Captain Ramaal Lewis, Ray Jordan and Jerome Jones grabbed three wickets each as the young Afghans crumbled without much of a fight.

Opener Usman Ghani top-scored with 27, tailender Muslim Musa chipped in with 24 while the only other player to pass single digits was Nasir Ahmadzai with 12.

A solid opening partnership between Shimron Hetmyer and Tagenarine Chanderpaul yielded 50 runs and carried West Indies within sight of victory.

It ended when Chanderpaul was caught on 19 after facing 32 balls and hitting three fours.

Jeremy Solozano joined Hetmyer and in a 35-run stand carried West Indies to victory with 188 balls remaining.

Hetmyer was not out on 46 which included six fours and Solozano, who struck a boundary, was unbeaten on 13.

West Indies begin their campaign in the ICC Under-19 World Cup against South Africa in Dubai, on Friday.