President of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board Azim Bassarath believes the West Indies have set up an excellent platform for a strong challenge at next June’s ICC World T20 in the Caribbean.
The Cricket West Indies vice-president commented in light of the Caribbean cricketers’ exciting 3-2 victory over defending World Cup champions England in the T20I series which ended on Thursday with a four-wicket win for the home team at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
The home team also triumphed 2-1 in the five-match ODI rubber which preceded the T20s.
“The win was not surprising, since March the West Indies have been performing well having beaten South Africa and India in white ball cricket,” said Bassarath.
He said the men in Maroon clearly showed they were hungry for success and obviously enjoyed playing as a unit under Darren Sammy.
“Their superlative string of wins against very good competition augers well for the future with the T20 World Cup on the horizon, in front of their home crowd,” said the TTCB boss.
Bassarath also welcomed allrounder Andre Russell who distinguished himself on his return to the West Indies set-up after a lengthy lay-off.
He said Russell brought new energy into the team and looks like he’s enjoying his cricket having experienced a very rewarding T20I series against England.
In the first match which the home team won by four wickets, Russell took 3 for 19 and scored an unbeaten 29 from 14 balls to cop the Man of The Match award.
In the second match he scored 14 runs from 10 balls, and a poor bowling performance in which his four overs scored 66 runs as the West Indies won edged out a ten-run win.
In the third match, he scored just eight runs and took one wicket as England won by seven wickets. In the next game, he kept the innings alive with 51 runs from 25 balls after he took one wicket but the visitors levelled the series 2-2 with a massive 75-run victory.
Finally, in the fifth and deciding match he took two wickets for 25 runs and scored three runs as the Caribbean team won by four wickets.
Bassarath said Russell’s contribution was telling and that he was also was very influential in the team’s dressing room helping in strategizing especially for the fifth match.
Allen hundred sets up rematch between San Francisco Unicorns and Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket final
Aggresive New Zealand opener Finn Allen hit the third hundred of his T20 career to propel the San Francisco Unicorns to a win over the Texas Super Kings at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Friday to advance to the Major League Cricket final.
The 25-year-old Allen put the Super Kings to the sword in Friday's Challenger to help his side make 200-6 off their 20 overs after being inserted by Super Kings skipper Faf du Plessis.
Allen faced 53 balls and hit nine fours and five sixes on his way to 101 and was supported well by Australian wicket-keeper/batsman Josh Inglis who hit 37 off 25 balls including two fours and a six.
Afghan left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad snagged 3-27 from his four overs for the Super Kings.
Then, despite unbeaten fifties from both Devon Conway and Joshua Tromp, TSK fell agonizingly short of a spot in the final, finishing 190-4 from their 20 overs.
Conway led the way with 62* off 38 balls including four fours and two sixes while Tromp hit five fours and two sixes on his way to a 36-ball 56*.
Captain du Plessis had earlier made 45 off 22 balls.
Conway and Tromp got together at 90-4 in the 10th over and tried their best with a 100-run partnership but the runs proved to be just enough for the Unicorns.
The Unicorns will now square off with the Washington Freedom in Sunday’s final, also being played at the Grand Prairie Stadium.
The pair met on Thursday in the qualifier where the Freedom chased down 146 in 15.3 overs to book their spot in the final.
ECB chief insists no decision made on Mott future
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould has denied reports a decision has already been made on Matthew Mott's future as white-ball coach.
Mott's future has been called into question in the aftermath of England's failure to defend their T20 World Cup crown in the United States and West Indies, losing to India in the semi-finals.
Mott also oversaw England's calamitous 50-over World Cup campaign last year, as they lost six of their nine matches in India and crashed out in the group stage.
Reports earlier this week suggested the decision had already been made to dispense with Mott's services, with Eoin Morgan a contender to succeed him, though the former limited-overs captain has since said he has no interest in the role.
Asked by BBC Test Match Special if Mott's future had already been decided, Gould said: "That's not true. That's certainly not true.
"Matthew Mott is a really good guy and coach. He's got a great track record and it is the same with [captain] Jos [Buttler].
"We are always assessing options - that is what happens in high-performance sport, you are always assessing your options.
"You never want to be drawn into being given the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that. Competitive sport always brings scrutiny and decisions.
"We'll constantly want to assess our options but we'll always want to do the right thing by the sport, the team and individuals."
West Indies grab three late wickets on day one as third Test against England in the balance
England lost three wickets in a dramatic end to day one of the third Test against West Indies, leaving them in a precarious position after restricting the tourists for 282.
Gus Atkinson finished with figures of 4-67, while Chris Woakes took 3-69 for England, as only a fine sixth-wicket stand from Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva saved West Indies from being bowled out for a much lower total.
But England, chasing a 3-0 series whitewash, let their dominant position slip when taking up the bat for the final 35 minutes, Zak Crawley (18), Ben Duckett (3) and Mark Wood (0) being dispatched as bowler Jayden Seales dropped them to 38-3.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and chose to bat, leading his side to a solid start before a spell of three wickets in five overs before lunch put England on top.
Atkinson accounted for Mikyle Louis (26) and Alick Athanaze (2) on either side of Wood sending stumps flying with a full delivery to dismiss Kirk McKenize for 12.
Brathwaite's knock of 61 was brought to a halt shortly after the action resumed, the captain gloving Wood's leg-side ball to Jamie Smith as the tourists slid from 76-0 to 115-5 in 45 balls.
Holder (59) and Da Silva (49) then shared 108 to drag the Windies towards a respectable total, but things looked bleak for them when the latter feathered Woakes' ball through to Smith.
Having gone 30 overs without a wicket, England needed just 14 more to polish off the tail, the highlight being a terrific diving catch from Joe Root to send Gudakesh Motie (8) packing.
England were given just over half an hour with the bat to cap Friday's action, but any hopes of a serene finish were soon dashed.
Holder made two terrific catches off Seales' bowling, the first from Crawley's thick outside edge and the second to dismiss Wood for a duck, either side of Alzarri Joseph's cracking delivery accounting for Duckett.
That spell ensured what had been a good day for the hosts ended on a sour note, with the Windies sure to target quick wickets when the action resumes on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Atkinson and Seales dominate
This series began with all the focus on James Anderson as England's greatest-ever bowler bowed out at Lord's, but Atkinson has taken centre-stage since making his Test debut in the opening match and now has 20 wickets through five innings.
That is eight more than West Indies' Jayden Seales, the next-most prolific bowler in this series, has managed.
Seales was determined to have an impact on day one, though, and his two wickets at the death have set the stage for a far more competitive match than those England won at Lord's and Trent Bridge.
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