West Indies show military style precision in their handling of Afghanistan

The West Indies showed military style precision in their handling of Afghanistan.

Chris Gayle removed Afghanistan top-scorer Ikram Alikhil with his tame off-breaks as the West Indies secured just their second win of a chastening World Cup campaign on Thursday.

The Caribbean side scored 311 for six in their 50 overs in Leeds and although the Afghans put up a brave fight, they ultimately went down by 23 runs.

Gayle, almost certainly playing in his final World Cup match at the age of 39, failed with the bat but struck with the ball, trapping Alikhil lbw for 86 in the 36th over to put a huge dent in Afghanistan's slim hopes of victory.

Despite the victory, two-time former champions West Indies remain second-bottom of the 10-team table and will slink home with just two wins from nine matches.

Afghanistan have flickered in spells during only their second World Cup — going close against India and Pakistan — but head home with a dispiriting nine defeats out of nine.

The West Indies, who smashed 111 runs of the last 10 overs, had captain Jason Holder and Nicholas Pooran to thank for their acceleration after solid contributions from Evin Lewis (58), Shai Hope (77) and Shimron Hetmyer (39).

Gayle was caught behind after a slash against Dawlat Zadran for just seven and remains 10 runs short of Brian Lara's all-time West Indian record of 10,348 one-day international runs.

Pooran picked up where he left off against Sri Lanka, hitting 58 to add to his century in a losing cause earlier this week, Holder smashed a quickfire 45 while Carlos Brathwaite lashed 14 off four balls.

In reply, Alikhil put on 133 for the second wicket with Rahmat Shah (62) and there were notable contributions by Najibullah Zadran and Asghar Afghan but ultimately they did not have the batting firepower to get them over the line.

Paceman Kemar Roach was the pick of the West Indies bowlers, finishing with figures of 3-37 in his 10 overs. West Indies began the tournament with a comprehensive seven-wicket win against Pakistan and many tipped them as dark horses for the title, with a power-packed batting line-up and fearsome pace attack.

But they have been error-prone and lacklustre, failing to turn their promising positions into concrete results.

Afghanistan will head home with more experience under the belts but with major questions over their batting strength and their lack of quality seam bowlers.

Even highly rated leg-spinner Rashid Khan ended the tournament with just six wickets after taking 1-52 on Thursday.

THE STAR

Shai Hope starred for the Windies.

Shai Hope outshone Chris Gayle in potentially his last ODI match. Hope has had an indifferent World Cup, underperforming whilst fellow youngsters Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran have excelled, his 92-ball 77 was a fitting way to finish the campaign and remind us all that even without Gayle, the West Indies are on the up.

THE MOMENT

Chris Gayle takes selfies with fans in potentially his final international game.

18 Balls, 1 four, 7 runs. Is that the final time we see Chris Gayle in international cricket. Despite his reversal of international retirement, there is a good chance it is. With a plethora of young batting talent, and the way that the West Indies Cricket Board moved past Shiv Chanderpaul who at 40 years of age in 2015 was overlooked for selection. All good things come to an end, and this may be it for Chris Gayle.

THE FAILURE

Gulbadin Naib walks back after Kemar Roach picks up his wicket.

Gulbadin Naib has had a disappointing campaign personally as well as the captain of the side that has failed to record a single win. After his howler against Pakistan, Gulbadin only bowled himself 3 overs, going at six an over without taking a wicket, and registered just 5 with the bat. The Afghanistan Cricket Board have been harsh in their treatment of players in the past, hopefully it is not the case this time around.

WHAT NEXT - With their campaigns over, Afghanistan will head to Zimbabwe in August for a three format tour, whilst the West Indies will host India immediately after this World Cup in two tests, and three ODI's and T20I's a piece. TONIGHT - Pakistan will need to beat Bangladesh by 326 runs to leapfrog New Zealand into the four. If they bat second, their campaign is over at the toss.