Carrying no points into the Super Sixes under young stand-in skipper Rashid Khan, Afghanistan needed three wins from three and a fair share of luck to book themselves a ticket to England 2019. They recorded the first of the three against the West Indies on Thursday, with Mujeeb Zadran and Mohammad Nabi combining to knock the otherwise unbeaten West Indies over for 197 runs, by an economical ten overs from their captain. Rashid Khan was again called upon to finish things off after a nervy chase anchored by Rahmat Shah, getting his team over the line with three wickets to spare.

Afghanistan's fans will hope their young captain can rediscover some of his old magic with the ball, however. With the pressures of captaincy seemingly weighing heavily on his shoulders, the world's leading white-ball bowler is in the midst of a comparatively lean wicket-taking spell. However, the return of their regular skipper following a bout of appendicitis will boost their morale.

Afghanistan: Asghar Stanikzai(c), Mohammad Shahzad, Javed Ahmadi, Ihsanullah Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Samiullah Shenwari, Nasir Jamal, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran

UAE: Rohan Mustafa(c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Qadeer Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammad Boota, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Adnan Mufti, Mohammad Naveed, Ahmed Raza, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Chirag Suri, Muhammad Usman