Shai Hope

Following the recent series in South Africa, Hope has moved up two places in the batting to 12th position. He made a match-wining 128 not out – his 14th ODI century – in his first match as captain which the West Indies defeated the home side at Buffalo Park in East London.

 Joseph made a giant leap of eight places to 11th spot after the two matches. He bowled with genuine pace and penetration and took 3-53 in East London which was followed up by 3-50 in the next match at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom. He now has an impressive record of 93 wickets in 56 matches at an average of 27 runs per wicket and strike rate of just under 31. Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein is the other West Indies bowler in the Top 20. He took 3-59 and 2-49 in the two matches to break into the top tier.

 West Indies and South Africa played to a 1-1 result in the series. The first match was washed out, West Indies won the second by 48 runs while the Proteas won the third by four wickets.

The series now moves to Centurion for the first T20 International which will be played at SuperSports Park on Saturday. First ball is 2pm (8am Eastern Caribbean/7am Jamaica

The win means the home side’s seven-match losing streak continues as they ceded the three-match series to India with one match remaining.

India started slowly but eventually got the measure of the West Indies attack with half-centuries from Shreyas Ayer (63) and Sanju Samson (54) but it was Axar Patel whose quick-fire 64 from 35 balls that powered India over the line with a straight six from the fourth ball of the final over bowled by Kyle Mayers.

Mayers finished with 2-48 from 7.4 overs. Alzarri Joseph bowled well for his 2-46 from 10. Jayden Seales proved economical taking 1-40 from his allotment.

Earlier, after the West Indies had won the toss and chose to bat first, Hope scored 115 as the West Indies posted 311-6 from their 50 overs.

After sharing in an opening stand of 65 with Kyle Mayers who made 39, Hope also featured in a second-wicket partnership of 62 with Shamarh Brooks who contributed 32 before he too was dismissed after getting a start.

Brandon King made nought from five balls before Hope and Captain Nicolas Pooran shared in a 127-run partnership for the fourth wicket that got the West Indies back on track for another score over 300. Pooran was eventually dismissed for 74 with the West Indies positioned at 280-5 in the 44^th over.

Hope finally fell in the 49^th over, caught in the deep trying to hit over the long-off boundary as the West Indies' rate of scoring dipped. The home side managed 31 off the next six overs while also losing the wickets of Rovman Powell for 13 and Romario Shepherd for 14, something that West Indies would come to regret.

Shardul Thakur was the pick of the Indian bowlers with 3-54 from his seven overs but India’s ability to restrict the West Indies' scoring in the death overs was largely due to the excellent bowling of Mohammad Siraj, who ended wicket-less but who the West Indies batters found difficult to get away in the final three overs.

Chasing a challenging 306 for victory from their 50 overs, Babar scored 103 from 107 balls and only hit nine fours as Pakistan achieved their target with four balls to spare.

He featured in a 103-run second-wicket partnership with Imam-ul-Haq who made 65 from 71 balls after Fakhar Zaman was dismissed by Jayden Seales in the seventh over when Pakistan had reached 26.

Babar and Mohammad Rizwan then added an additional 108 for the third wicket before he was dismissed by Alzarri Joseph in the 42^nd with the score at 237.

Rizwan fell to the bowling of Romario Shepherd for 59 in the 45^th over with the match still evenly balanced with Pakistan needing 50 for victory.

Khushdil Shah swung the match in Pakistan’s favour when he smashed an unbeaten 41 from 23 balls hitting four sixes along the way. The 47^th over proved to be decisive as he smeared Shepherd over the boundary ropes for three consecutive sixes in an over that yielded 20 and at the end of which Pakistan needed only 24 from the last 18 balls.

He hit his fourth from the penultimate ball of Shepherd’s next over leaving Pakistan to get six runs from the final over.

Mohammad Nawaz duly obliged hitting Seales back over his head for six to seal the victory.

Alzarri Joseph bowled well for his figures of 2-55 while Seales ended with 1-53. Shah’s onslaught on Shepherd resulted in the bowler giving up 70 runs from his nine overs, half of them scored from his last two overs.

Earlier, Shai Hope scored his 12^th ODI century as the West Indies batted well for their 305-8 from their allotment.

After losing his opening partner Kyle Mayers for just three in the third over with the West Indies on nine, Hope and Shamarh Brooks repaired the early damage with a second-wicket partnership of 154 before Brooks was brilliantly caught at short third man by Shadab Khan off the bowling of Nawaz for 70.

Cameos of 21 from 16 balls by Captain Nicholas Pooran, 32 from 23 balls from Rovman Powell and 25 from 18 by Shepherd carried the West Indies past 300.

Though he proved expensive Haris Rauf was the best of the Pakistan bowlers with 4-77 from his 10 overs. Shaheen Shah Afridi took 2-55.

West Indies batsman Shai Hope played a crucial role in setting the foundation for the Hobart Hurricanes’ highest total of the Big Bash League (BBL) season, as they secured a nail-biting 11-run victory over the Adelaide Strikers at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.

Hope’s breezy 37 off 22 balls provided the early impetus for the Hurricanes, who later powered to a daunting 214-5, courtesy of Tim David’s explosive 33 off 14 balls and Ben McDermott’s stunning 68 off 34 balls. 

After scoring 79 in the first innings, Hope stroked a fluid 104 from 132 balls, a total that included 9 fours and six 6s.  The total anchored Jermaine Blackwood XI’s 197 for 3 in the second innings, for an overall lead of 283 runs.  Earlier, they bowled out Jahmar Hamilton XI for 178 in their first innings.  Blackwood’s XI made 264 in the first innings.

  “It’s about making sure the bowlers don’t settle and almost putting pressure back onto them. So the key is to make sure I can stay within my game plan. Obviously, the situation of the game would dictate how I play in certain passages but more or less that is the of play I will try to portray, so hopefully, it works out in the future, and hopefully, I can continue in this vein and continue to score runs,” Hope said following the days play.

The batsman has not played a Test since the series against England last year and was dropped from the team ahead of the New Zealand series following a poor run of form.  Since returning to the team the batsman has looked in good nick, however, and will be eyeing a return to the Test team.

“For me, personally, I’m just happy to get those run I need in the red-ball format.  So, if I can continue that when I get the opportunity to play in the Test team if it comes, I’m definitely going to grab it with both hands and score as many runs as possible.”

The 27-year-old batsman last played for the red ball team in July of last year, after being dropped for a poor run of form in Test cricket ahead of the New Zealand series, in November of last year.

After taking the time off to focus on a few technical inconsistencies and fine-tuning his mental approach, Hope was selected as part of a final 13-man squad for the upcoming Test series earlier this week.

 The batsman impressed selectors with his performance in the West Indies Best vs Best practice match, where he scored 79 in the first innings and 104 in the second.  In addition to that, he also made 68 in a practice match against Sri Lanka earlier this year.  The player is hoping that kind of form translates if he takes the pitch for the upcoming series.

“I want to be clearer in my thought processes and obviously, achieve overall success.  I’m trying to turn over a new leaf and start a fresh book, so hopefully, I can hit the ground running if I get a chance to go out there,” Hope told members of the media.

“Cricket covers different aspects, both technical and mental.  So, I have been working on different things.  The main thing is just to get success out there and I believe in finding a way.  I just need to find a way to score runs for the team.”

After skittling the West Indies out for 114 in just 23 overs, India scored 118-5 from 22.5 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Yadav returned the incredible figures of 4-6 in three overs as the West Indies lost their last seven wickets for 26 runs. Yadav claimed the last four wickets to fall including that of Captain Shai Hope who made 43, the only score of note as Alick Athanze (22) and Brandon King (17) both got starts but failed to carry on.

Ravindra Jadeja, who bowled Shimron Hetmyer for 11, also contributed to the rout taking 3-37 in his six overs.

Chasing a modest total, India lost the wickets of Shubman Gill for seven when he edged a Jaydon Seales delivery to King at slip and Suryakumar Yadav, who was trapped lbw by Gudakesh Motie for 19.

India would lose three more wickets as Hardik Pandya was run out for five, Motie dismissed Kishan for 52 and Yannic Cariah dismissed Shardul Thakur for one. However, Jadeja (16) and Rohit Sharma (12) remained unbeaten as the tourists eased the target inside the 23^rd over.

Motie was the best of the West Indies bowlers with 2-26 while Cariah and Seales shared two wickets between them.

The West Indies, thanks to a century from Shai Hope at the top of the order, scored 289-7 before going from losing positions to winning positions and back again, as Sri Lanka got to 290-9 with five balls to spare.

According to Pollard, after leaving a few runs with the bat, the West Indies were also not at their very best with the ball and coughed up too many presents for the Sri Lankans.

But Pollard did enjoy the game, saying it was well contested by both teams.

“Good game of cricket came down to the last over with the crowd on its feet,” he said.

“Normally guys like me and Pooran finish it off but it couldn't happen today. Couple of soft dismissals in the middle really set us back,” said Pollard.

“I think we bowled too many bad balls in the start, gave them too many freebies, that's where we lost the game. Our discipline was not there,” he said.

Sri Lanka started well with a 111-run first-wicket partnership between Avishka Fernando (50) and captain Dimuth Karunaratne (52).

The Windies fought back brilliantly but Thisara Perera played an important innings, slamming a 22-ball 32. When Perera was caught off the bowling of Alzarri Joseph, the match was very much in the balance with Sri Lanka on 253-7.

However, Hasaranga (42 off 39) produced a performance that belied his ODI average of 14.37 to get Sri Lanka over the finish line.

Hasaranga's ability to find the rope – he struck a quartet of fours and one maximum – and inaccurate death bowling from the Windies left the scores level going into the final over.

A direct-hit run out from Sunil Ambris to remove Lakshan Sandakan frayed the nerves a little, but the one run Sri Lanka needed came from a Keemo Paul no-ball off the next delivery as if to highlight the way little mistakes had cost the Caribbean side.

As a result, the West Indies T20 team will be led by Nicholas Pooran while the ODI team will be led by Shai Hope. Pooran led the West Indies to a 4-1 victory T20 series over Australia earlier this year. Hope will be leading the West Indies ODI team for the first time.

 Meantime, the CWI selection panel has named the experienced Devon Thomas as Pollard’s replacement in the One-Day International (ODI) squad while allrounder Rovman Powell will replace the Trinidadian the T20 International (T20I) squad.

Pollard will now undergo rehabilitation work in Trinidad, under the supervision of CWI’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Israel Dowlat, and will be reassessed in a few weeks ahead of the upcoming home tours against Ireland and England in January 2022.

The West Indies are due to play three T20Is and three ODIs at the Karachi National Stadium from December 13 to 22. The start times for the matches are T20Is at 6 pm local time (9 am Eastern Caribbean/8 am Jamaica) and the ODIs at 1 pm local time (4 am Eastern Caribbean/3 am Jamaica).

The ODI Series will be West Indies fourth series of 12 in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League in which the top seven teams can secure automatic qualification for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India. West Indies currently lie in eighth position out of 13 teams and have the opportunity to move above Pakistan into seventh position.

ODI squad: Shai Hope (Captain), Nicholas Pooran (Vice-Captain), Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Justin Greaves, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Raymon Reifer, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Devon Thomas and Hayden Walsh Jr.

T20I squad: Nicholas Pooran (Captain), Shai Hope (Vice-Captain), Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Oshane Thomas and Hayden Walsh Jr.

Schedule

December 13 – 1st T20I, Karachi

December 14 – 2nd T20I, Karachi

December 16 – 3rd T20I, Karachi

December 18 – 1st ODI, Karachi

December 20 – 2nd ODI, Karachi

December 22 – 3rd ODI, Karachi

Jake Fraser-McGurk top-scored with 84 – hitting 50 off just 15 balls – while Tristan Stubbs (48) and Shai Hope (41) also chipped in with important contributions as the Capitals set a target of 258.

Mukesh Kumar (3/59) and Rasikh Salam (3/34) did their best to halt Mumbai’s revival, but they turned up the pressure to require 25 runs from the final over.

However, despite Luke Wood and Piyush Chawla’s best efforts, Delhi held out for a second successive win.

Data debrief

Wood almost made amends after conceding 68 runs during the opening innings – the joint-most in the IPL this season, matching Reece Topley’s tally against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Tilak Varma led Mumbai’s attempted revival with 63 for his sixth half-century in the IPL, though they have all come in defeats

The 32-year-old took 3-19 as the USA were bowled out for 128, with Shai Hope hitting an unbeaten 82 from 39 balls as the Windies leapfrogged England in the race for the semi-finals. 

"It is our destiny and our goal to win this World Cup," Chase said after the victory. "We want teams to know they have to beat us to win this World Cup."

Rovman Powell's side equalled the record for the West Indies' most wins in a single calendar year (W9 in 2021) in T20Is, and face South Africa in Antigua next Monday. 

The triumph continued their impressive T20 record at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, and they have now won five of their previous seven T20Is at the venue. 

The last and only previous time they won more consecutive games in Barbados was a four-game streak from May 2010 to March 2014, which has got the West Indies believing they can claim a third title. 

"It's very special," captain Powell said. "Kensington brings special memories for us. We had no better opportunity to come out and play some good cricket."

The USA still holds on to the hopes of qualifying for the competition's semi-finals but knows their hopes of progression lie elsewhere. 

Having lost their opening Super 8 fixture to South Africa, they will be hoping the Proteas can do them a favour in defeating the West Indies but would need a comprehensive victory of their own against current champions England. 

"We lost wickets in clusters," captain Aaron Jones said. "I don't think we ever truly recovered from that. It was bad in the middle.

"We'll go back to the drawing board and come back hard against England on Sunday."

 The Tridents will welcome back the world’s number one rated Test all-rounder and Tridents’ captain Jason Holder, along with fellow Barbadians Shai Hope, Kyle Mayers, Raymon Reifer, Justin Greaves, Nyeem Young and Joshua Bishop.

 In addition to the local playing contingent, the Tridents have retained opening batsman Johnson Charles and leg spinner Hayden Walsh Jr who was the player of the tournament when the Tridents claimed the Hero CPL title in 2019.

 Tridents have eight spots left to fill in their squad and the remaining players will be announced in the coming weeks.

 Kailash Pardasani, Barbados Tridents Co-CEO, said: “We are really excited to welcome back our retained players and especially look forward to making Barbados and all Tridents’ fans very proud in our upcoming 2021 season. Our primary driving factor is the Barbados Tridents family which comprises our players, their extended families and all fans across the globe. This together with our love and passion for the game of cricket will enable us to bring the Hero CPL 2021 title back home as we did in 2019.“

The squads have been confirmed by the Cricket West Indies Selection Panel, with 14 players named per squad and 11 players batting in each innings. Hamilton is humbled and eager to lead one of the squads, especially considering the importance of this contest to all involved.

“There’s going to be some quality. We have the best guys for red-ball cricket in the Caribbean here, so it is going to be a challenge,” he said.

“Also, this game is to select players for the Test team, so it is going to be a great showdown. I am in the captain’s role, so I just want to put my best foot forward and lead the team to victory."

Jermaine Blackwood was equally as elated and is adamant that the fans will be treated with a fine contest.

“The fans can expect great cricket over the next four days because we have some very competitive athletes here,” he said.

“We are ready to go play some exciting cricket starting tomorrow. We are a group of hungry players, who are ready to showcase our talent to the selectors and coaches. I am very honoured to be leading one of the teams. Fans can tune into the West Indies YouTube page to watch the game live.”

The match will be streamed live on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel.

The links for each day’s live coverage are as follows:

Day 1: https://youtu.be/ZlxHDYMt9No

Day 2: https://youtu.be/kvniMRsupus

Day 3: https://youtu.be/ozr2t6KAwNo

Day 4: https://youtu.be/wpw0LPNg-gM

Meanwhile, four players who played in the recent series against Sri Lanka will be unavailable for the “Best v Best” match.

Jason Holder, the ICC’s Number 1 ranked Test all-rounder arrived in St. Lucia on May 28 and after going through the agreed quarantine protocols will begin training on June 1 once he has returned two negative PCR tests.

Test Captain Kraigg Brathwaite and fast bowlers Kemar Roach and Alzarri Joseph are arriving in St Lucia later this coming week following their English County Championship commitments. They will join training after completing the quarantine protocols and once they respectively return two negative PCR tests each.

Blackwood’s team comprises Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, John Campbell, Rahkeem Cornwall, Keon Harding, Shannon Gabriel, Kavem Hodge, Kyle Mayers, Veerasammy Permaul, Joshua Da Silva, Nail Smith, Oshane Thomas and Hayden Walsh Jr.

Hamilton’s team is Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Kerron Cottoy, Chemar Holder, Obed McCoy, Preston McSween, Shayne Moseley, Paul Palmer, Kieron Powell, Raymon Reifer, Jayden Seales and Jomel Warrican.

The match that will be officiated by umpires Joel Wilson, Gregory Brathwaite and Leslie Reifer Jr is set to begin at 9 am Jamaica time. 10 am AST.

Joseph, who has previous IPL experience with the Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans, was the most expensive West Indian as well as the fifth most expensive player, going to the Royal Challengers Bangalore for 11.5 crore (USD 1,386,000 approximately).

West Indies T20I skipper Rovman Powell was the first player up for grabs on Tuesday, going for 7.4 crore (USD 892,000 approximately) to the Rajasthan Royals after a bidding war with the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Sherfane Rutherford was the next West Indian to be picked up, going to the Kolkata Knight Riders for 1.5 crore (USD 181,000 approximately).

ODI skipper Shai Hope earned a maiden IPL contract, going for 75 lakh (USD 90,500) to the Delhi Capitals.

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc is now the most expensive player in IPL history after being sold to the Kolkata Knight Riders for 24.75 crore (USD 2,982,000 approximately).

Starc broke the previous record of 20.50 crore (USD 2,470,000 approximately) set earlier in the evening when the Sunrisers Hyderabad outbid the Royal Challengers Bangalore for Starc’s teammate and World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins.

New Zealand All-rounder Darryl Mitchell went for 14 crore (USD 1,687,000 approximately) to defending champions Chennai Super Kings while Indian pacer Harshal Patel went to the Punjab Kings for 11.75 crore (USD 1,412,000 approximately) to round out the top five buys.

Lara, speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, for instance, believes talented 23-year-old Shimron Hetmyer has personal issues like his fitness that he needs to deal with before he is quite ready to take the world by storm.

“People have challenges in different ways and Hetmyer, obviously, is a very talented cricketer, someone who plays all forms of the game for the West Indies. If he is unfit, he has to see it as a personal challenge. Fitness levels are so very important. So if fitness is his problem, I would like to see him face that challenge himself, and he’ll be a much better cricketer,” said Lara.

Lara though, has much more immediate hopes for others in the West Indies squad like Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran and Alzarri Joseph.

According to the former Windies captain, Pooran understands his role in the team, while the West Indies can find Hope’s stability useful, even in the T20 form of the game, while Joseph is a gamechanger with his ability to take wickets.

“I like Nicholas Pooran, he’s settling down and understanding his responsibilities more now. Shai Hope could play a part in the T20 World Cup, being that solid guy with a great technique that can hold the innings together. Those are the three players I’m really looking forward to seeing. Alzarri Joseph is someone who I look at and say ‘this guy has got potential, he’s a wicket-taker’. He is someone who I’d like to see do well,” said Lara.

Lara, as he has said before, believes the team can learn much from the example of Virat Kohli.

Kohli, he said, has worked hard on his fitness and that, Lara explained, is the perfect lead for Hetmyer to follow.

The two teams have been drawn from the leading performers in the 2023 West Indies Championship and those deemed to be on the fringe of the Test team.

The series aims to provide further first-class opportunities to the best performers from the West Indies Championship in a competitive and intense setting, as well as opportunities for players who the selectors believe would benefit from playing red-ball cricket as West Indies prepare for the upcoming “A” Team tour of Bangladesh and the two-Test Series against India at home.

Team Headley and Team Weekes will play against each other and against the West Indies Academy in the three-match series running from 19 April to 6 May, at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua. All three matches have been awarded first-class status. The West Indies Academy was unveiled last year and played CG United Super50 tournament last November.

Team Weekes will feature Athanaze who was the leading batter in the West Indies Championship with 647 runs, which included two centuries; left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul the second-highest wicket-taker with 28 wickets; as well as Jahmar Hamilton who was the joint leading keeper with 19 dismissals.

Team Headley will feature experienced left-hander Darren Bravo, who was the second highest run-scorer in the West Indies Championship with 446 runs which included two centuries; fast bowler Akeem Jordan who was third highest wicket-taker with 22 wickets in four matches; as well as Tevyn Walcott, who was the joint leading keeper with 19 dismissals.

“Following the conclusion of the West Indies Championship, we are pleased to have more first-class matches on the calendar,” said CWI Lead Selector Desmond Haynes.

“This is a great initiative and will provide our players with more opportunities as we look ahead to the very important Test Series against India later in the year as well as ‘A’ Team matches. We looked at everyone who was available, and we came up with teams who will be very competitive and push each other.”

All matches in the Headley Weekes Tri-Series will be streamed LIVE on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel with live scorecards and ball-by-ball scoring on the Windiescricket.com live match centre.

Team Headley: Joshua Da Silva (captain), Sunil Ambris, Darren Bravo, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Chaim Holder, Akeem Jordan, Marquino Mindley, Shayne Moseley, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Kieran Powell and Tevyn Walcott.

Team Weekes:  Alick Athanaze (captain), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Keacy Carty, Dominic Drakes, Jahmar Hamilton, Brandon King, Jair McAllister, Zachary McCaskie, Veerasammy Permaul, Raymon Reifer, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith and Devon Thomas.

West Indies Academy: Kevlon Anderson, Ackeem Auguste, Joshua Bishop, Teddy Bishop, McKenny Clarke, Rivaldo Clarke, Joshua James, Johann Layne, Kirk McKenzie, Ashmead Nedd, Kelvin Pitman, Keagan Simmons, Ramon Simmonds, Kevin Wickham and Nyeem Young.

According to Cricket West Indies Shai Hope was selected but was given permission to represent Yorkshire in the English County Championship while Rahkeem Cornwall and Shane Dowrich made themselves unavailable for selection.

MATCH SCHEDULE

All matches to be played at CCG, Antigua

Match 1: 19-22 April: Team Headley v West Indies Academy

Match 2: 26-29 April: Team Weekes v West Indies Academy

Match 3: 3-6 May: Team Weekes v Team Headley

The 28-year-old batted through the West Indian innings to help them post a formidable 176-7 from their 20 overs on a St. George’s pitch that offered a lot to the bowlers.

“We found it a bit difficult to start. It’s a low and slow pitch. Not what we’re used to here, we usually get a good batting wicket, so, we had to assess very quickly,” said King in a post-match interview.

“We lost some early wickets so we had to try and decide how to go about it in a smart way,” he added.

Individually, King made 82* off 52 balls, his eighth fifty in T20 Internationals, hitting eight fours and five sixes. His first run of the innings was also his 1000^th in T20Is.

“I think there’s always some level of luck involved as well,” King said about being able to bat through the innings on that pitch.

“I was the one that got the start in the powerplay. It was difficult for new batters to come in and get going, especially against the spinners. We lost some early wickets so, given that I got the start, I tried to take it as deep as possible,” he added.

The hosts lost the wickets of Kyle Mayers (17), Nicholas Pooran (5), Shai Hope (1) and Shimron Hetmyer (2) all within the first 10 overs of their innings before King and skipper Rovman Powell combined to put on 80 for the fifth wicket.

“Extremely crucial,” was how King described Powell’s innings of 50 from 28 balls including a 30-run 16^th over off Sam Curran.

“A fantastic innings from him. He eased the pressure off me a little bit as well. Nobody has the power that he has. There are some shots only he can play so it was very important at that stage of the innings that he got those quick runs,” King added.

Powell’s heroics were needed after England’s spin duo of Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed accounted for the wickets of Pooran, Hope and Hetmyer.

“The spinners. You could see from early they were getting some purchase from the wicket with the new ball. Adil Rashid is obviously a very experienced bowler who knows how to bowl around the world. He bowled an excellent spell. It was important to us to not give him too many wickets and take the majority of the runs off the pace bowlers,” King said.

On the bowling side for the West Indies, King said his teammates did well to follow the game plan and use information from their own innings.

“Taking the information from the first innings, we knew what lengths were difficult. We went out and tried to apply that in the field. The guys fielded well as well so we’re very happy with that,” he said.

He also singled out Gudakesh Motie for conceding just nine runs in his spell.

“Excellent spell from him. To bowl four overs for nine runs in a T20 game is amazing. A good call from the skipper and the coach to bring him in for this game. Obviously, they read the pitch very well so he was crucial for us today,” he said.

The West indies will have a chance to clinch the series with on Saturday in the third T20I beginning at 12:30pm Jamaica Time (1:30pm ECT) at the same venue.

Chasing 222 for victory the West Indies reached their target in the 40^th over. King scored an even 100 and Captain Shai Hope, an unbeaten 63 to secure their first win in the Super Six stage of the tournament.

With both teams already eliminated from contention from qualifying for the ICC World Cup in India later this year, the match was of academic interest.

However, the West Indies were looking to save face after losing to the Netherlands and Scotland in consecutive matches. After winning the toss, Hope asked Oman to take first strike.

The bulk of the scoring came from Suraj Kumar, whose unbeaten 53 and Shaoib Khan, an even 50, helped Oman to 221-9. Opener Kashyap Prajapati got 31 and Aayan Khan, 30, in the face of accurate bowling from Romario Shepherd who took 3-44 and Kyle Mayers 2-31 from seven overs.

Kevin Sinclair, who replaced the injured Yannic Cariah in the West Indies squad finished with 1-42.

With the West Indies looking for their first points of the Super Six stage, they Caribbean side lost Johnson Charles for four with only seven runs on the board.

However, Keacy Carty and King settled nerves with an 80-run second wicket partnership before the latter was run out for 29. From there the West Indies were cruising as King and Hope steered the West Indies to the brink of victory with a third-wicket partnership of 96 that was broken when King feathered a catch through to wicketkeeper Kumar off the bowling of Bilal Khan for 100.

His second ODI century came off 104 deliveries and included 15 sublime boundaries.

Hope and Nicholas Pooran scored the remaining runs without much bother with Hope scoring his 23^rd ODI 50 along the way. Pooran was unbeaten on 19 at the end.

The West Indies will play their final match of their failed campaign against Sri Lanka on Friday. Sri Lanka has already qualified for the ICC World Cup.

The West Indies Men’s team is entering a new chapter in its storied history with a major leadership transition across formats, beginning with Kraigg Brathwaite officially stepping down as Test captain. The change comes ahead of the team’s upcoming home series against Australia, which marks the start of a new ICC World Test Championship cycle.

Captain Kraigg Brathwaite has had a welcome return to form with two Test half-centuries and a century in his last four Test matches but fellow opener John Campbell has not been inspiring much confidence with his performances.

The Jamaican has scores of 3, 23, 36, 18, 42, 11, 5, and 10 in his last four Tests. His last half-century, 68, was made in the second Test against New Zealand in December last year.

As a result, solid opening partnerships for the Caribbean side have been rare and this is a worry for Harper.

 “I think it has been a concern for a while. It was pleasing to see the captain get some big scores, but we need the partnership, on the whole, to be solid,” Harper said this past week on Mason and Guest.

But while Campbell has been struggling for form, Harper acknowledges that the batsman has been working hard to correct his flaws, like the ones that saw him get out in similar fashion in all four innings in the recently concluded series against Sri Lanka.

 “We were delighted to see Campbell applying himself and being more patient, but we need some more positive returns,” he said.

There are several players who could come in to bolster the batting but recent history does not offer much hope for success. Players like Shai Hope and Shayne Moseley are potential replacements; Hope especially who has shown a welcome return to form in the ODIs against Sri Lanka, but Test cricket is a different prospect for a player who has struggled in that format of the game.

Moseley, who has shown promise, is yet to demonstrate that he is ready after several failures.

“It is something we are looking at. We are looking at our best options. At the moment, from a red ball perspective, we don’t have enough openers who are knocking down the door in terms of performances,” he concluded.