Afghanistan vs West Indies at Leeds weather update, World Cup 2019: While some teams are bracing themselves for the business end of the World Cup, the semi-finals, others are bracing themselves for life post an early exit at the World Cup. Today’s match between Afghanistan and the West Indies, inconsequential for the progression of the tournament, holds a lot of importance for both the contesting teams which would like to bow out of the tournament with a flourish. For Afghanistan, while the World Cup has thrown up some positives such as their spin trio of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, their campaign has also highlighted the glaring inequities of their batting order which has failed to notch up par scores on largely batting-friendly pitches. Their batting woes, until a year or two back, could have been attributed to the lack of experience and fixtures. However, Afghanistan would do well to not hide behind that excuse any longer since their full member status with the ICC in 2017 has also brought with it, a fuller calendar [caption id=“attachment_6862551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
File photo Rashid Khan. AP[/caption] The West Indies, on the other hand, were touted to be the team to watch out for, which could spring a surprise considering the inclusion of T20 stalwarts Chris Gayle, Carlos Brathwaite and Andre Russell. They began the World Cup in spectacular fashion, amassing over 400 runs against New Zealand in the warm-up match before demolishing Pakistan for a paltry 105, winning their first match by seven wickets. However, it all went downhill from there as their marquee players failed to live up their hype. Both sides would be keen to wrap up their campaign on a high before they spend some time in the wilderness, introspecting on their failures and charting a course for the future. The West Indies would also be keen to avenge their two losses to the Afghans at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers which were played last year in Zimbabwe. The weather update at Leeds, according to
Accuweather
, looks promising. It’s expected to be balmy summer weather, bright and sunny conditions to prevail while partial cloud cover is expected but not to be feared for rain is nowhere on the horizon. For all the latest news, opinions and analysis from ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, click here
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