- By Namrata Vijay
- Mon, 03 Jun 2024 12:12 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
WI vs PNG, 2024 T20 World Cup: West Indies looked in deep trouble at one point as an irresistible Papua New Guinea made them work hard to win their tournament opener on Sunday. PNG's star batter Sese Bau scored a fifty and helped his team post a below-average target of 136/8 while batting first. They suffered a batting collapse as they were reeling at 50/4.
The formidable West Indies batting lineup should have chased down this target quite easily but the PNG bowlers gave them a hard time despite being an associate nation.
The PNG spinners along with the medium pacers didn't let the West Indies batters score runs freely on a tricky pitch. The Rovman Powell-led side did win the match in 19 overs on the back of Roston Chase's gritty knock of 42 runs and Andre Rusell too chipped in by scoring 15 runs.
The second inning was stopped for 20 minutes due to a passing shower. But despite that, there was no loss of overs. It began raining when West Indies were 8/1 in the second over and the second wicket would also have fallen had PNG's right-arm pacer Alei Nao taken a review of lbw to dismiss Nicholas Pooran.
Nao had dismissed Johnson Charles for a duck on the first ball itself and then he bowled another peachy delivery to almost dismiss Nicholas Pooran but the batter was lucky. Pooran eventually got out when left-arm spinner John Kariko took a simple catch at the deep.
PNG captain Assad Vela registered figures of 63/3 and then he dismissed the West Indies opener Brandon King as he was caught at deep mid-wicket.
The atmosphere in Wes Indies's dressing room became quite intense after they were reeling at 97/5 after 16 overs but then Roston Chase and Andre Rusell helped the team bounce back and led the team to victory.
Brief Scores:
Papua New Guinea: 136 for 8 in 20 overs (Sese Bau 50; Andre Russell 2/19, Alzarri Joseph Alzarri Joseph 2/34).
West Indies: 137 for 5 in 19 overs (Roston Chase 42 not out; Assad Vala 2/28).
(With PTI inputs)