Afghanistan overcome difficulties to stay alive

The West Indies body language had been oozing confidence in the World Cup Qualifiers, and indeed they were ruthless throughout the group stage. The fans in Harare have also responded well to them, with all of their games having been well attended by receptive crowds both at Harare Sports Club and Old Hararians. There certainly has been chemistry between them and the locals here, as has been the case in previous West Indian trips to Zimbabwe.

The story with Afghanistan has been rather different. With the Afghans cast in Zimbabwe's group during the first round of the tournament, and expected to be one of the host nation's main challengers, they were neither oozing confidence nor drawing support in the group stage.

However Thursday was a different story for both sides, as