Anything with pace, he confidently dealt with. However, Naveen-ul-Haq’s change of pace was too much to contend with, and he chipped one to cover after a duel that saw a dropped chance.

Two balls were all Pooran needed to get his eyes in on a belter of a pitch in Gros Islet. He signaled his arrival with arecord 36 run over against Azmatullah Omarzai, in which he hit three sixes and two fours, including one off a no-ball. Afghanistan generally turn to Mujeeb Ur Rahman for control in the powerplay. But with him out injured, Rashid Khan had to bring himself on in the powerplay for the first time this T20 World Cup. He was welcomed with a couple of fours as West Indies finished the powerplay on 92 for 1, the highest score in the first six overs in men’s T20 World Cups.

At 85 for 1 in five overs, West Indies looked set to bring back a template we were so used to in IPL 2024 – scores around and over 250. But Rashid and his spin-twin Noor Ahmad used the slight purchase from the surface to tie the batters down. Both varied the legbreak and googly, and also the lengths to keep the batters guessing. The bounce from the surface also came to their aid. As a result, only one four and three sixes – two of them by Shai Hope against Mohammad Nabi – came in the middle phase (overs 7 to 16), where West Indies scored only 66 and lost two wickets.

The 17th over almost woke up the sleeping giant Pooran, who got his first four since the powerplay when Gulbadin Naib misfielded one at sweeper cover. He then tore into Rashid, who had figures of 0 for 21 heading into his last over, in the 18th. Pooran stayed deep in the crease and often cleared his front leg in a bid to convert the good length deliveries that Rashid generally bowls.

Pooran’s leg side was the longer boundary, and Rashid bowling full only helped his cause. He struck three sixes and a four in the over to take 24 off it, decisively turning the tide in the hosts’ favour. He couldn’t do much damage to Naib, who bowled a couple of superb overs for two wickets, using the slower ones to trick the batters. When Pooran clobbered back-to-back sixes in the last over off Naveen, he looked primed to get to a century, only to be denied by a direct throw from Omarzai from deep cover.

Coming into the match, Afghanistan’s middle order (Nos. 3 to 6) averaged a mere 19.71 with the openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran doing the heavy-lifting in the big wins against New Zealand and Uganda. Gurbaz fell early trying to take on powerplay enforcer Akeal Hosein, exposing the Afghanistan middle order in a tall chase.

Ibrahim managed to punish an erring Alzarri Joseph, hitting him for one four and two sixes in the first six overs. He also managed to get a few away from Hosein but could not keep down a languid flick off Obed McCoy – brought in for Romario Shepherd, who was home for the birth of his second child – to deep backward square leg.

Playing his first match in this T20 World Cup, McCoy then dismissed Najibullah Zadran a couple of balls later before knocking Nabi over to reduce Afghanistan to 63 for 5 inside the tenth over. Omarzai managed to strike a few lusty blows but Hosein, Gudakesh Motie and Andre Russell never let them get away.

As a result, West Indies registered their second biggest win in T20 World Cups (by runs) and head into the Super Eight stage with a clean slate, as if to say, “talk now!”