Ibrahim Zadran and Darwish Rasooli powered Afghanistan to a 38-run victory over West Indies to win the opening game of the teams' T20I series.

Having opted to bat first, Afghanistan followed up with a strong bowling performance to stop the Windies from gaining any sort of momentum.

Afghanistan started poorly, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz being taken for a duck on the first ball before his replacement, Sediqullah Atal, added just two to the total before being dismissed in the third over.

However, West Indies had no response to Afghanistan's 162-run partnership for the third wicket.

Zadran scored an unbeaten 87 alongside Rasooli's knock of 84, with the latter being caught by Shimron Hetmyer with the final ball of the innings as Afghanistan managed 181-3.

And West Indies failed to get going with the bat, with openers Brandon King and Evin Lewis both dismissed for just four runs apiece. 

Johnson Charles (27), Quentin Sampson (30), Matthew Forde (25) and Gudakesh Molte (28) all attempted to keep the fight alive, but they struggled to 143-9 against Afghanistan's attack as Ziaur Rahman led the way with figures of 3-26.

𝐀𝐅𝐆𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐍! #AfghanAtalan have put on a terrific all-round performance to beat the West Indies by 38 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the e& Cup, T20I series, powered by SuperCola. #AFGvWI | #GloriousNationVictoriousTeam pic.twitter.com/DK9UbemgTC

— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) January 19, 2026

Data Debrief: Zadran writes his name into history books

Zadran got Afghanistan's innings back on track after their early losses, and his stunning performance will be remembered for more than one reason.

His knock of 87 was his 14th fifty-plus score in T20Is for Afghanistan. That is now the outright most for the nation, breaking Mohammad Shahzad's record.

And Rasooli and Zadran's 162-run partnership is Afghanistan's highest-ever for the third wicket in the shortest format, breaking the record of 116 set by Asghar Afghan and Hazratullah Zazai.