First T20I: Narine delighted with man-of-the-match performance

Spinner claimed 3-11 in four overs against Afghanistan to set up simple win

BASSETERRE, SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS: Sunil Narine snared three wickets and mesmerised Afghanistan to set up a six-wicket win for the West Indies in the first fixture of a three-match T20I series at Warner Park in St Kitts on Friday.

Having missed out on the meeting with the Afghans at last year's World T20 due to issues with his bowling action, the off-spinner was at his unplayable best in taking 3-11 off his four-over allotment as the visitors were dismissed for 110 batting first.

Marlon Samuels then struck a fluent 35 to lead the home side's romp to victory with almost four overs to spare.

"Getting back into action in West Indies colours is always an enjoyable thing," said Narine after receiving the man of the match award. "I am always trying different things with my bowling and tonight they came off pretty well."

Afghanistan's top order, including captain Asghar Stanikzai who had chosen to bat first, showed little responsibility at the crease and a succession of reckless shots saw them slipping to 58-8 in the 14th over and in danger of falling below their previous lowest T20 International score of 72.

"We needed to get at least 30-40 more runs to be competitive," said a disappointed Stanikzai.

Rashid Khan, with a T20I best of 33, and 21 from fellow spinner Amir Hamza gave the innings a measure of respectability.

"It's always important to start with a win and we did what was required," said West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite. "Their tail held us up a bit and I thought we lost too many wickets, but generally it was a satisfying effort."

In their only previous senior international meeting, Afghanistan defeated the West Indies by six runs at the 2016 World T20 although the Caribbean side went on to lift the title for the second time in four years.