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• Despite elimination, Windies captain Rovman Powell commends team's tremendous progress

  West Indies’ ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign came to an end on June 23, when the co-hosts suffered a narrow defeat to South Africa in their final Super Eights fixture.

  After an exceptional start in the first round, having gathered all eight points from their four matches to top Group D, and making into the Super Eights as a serious title contender, West Indies witnessed a dip in form against England, and South Africa. This cost them their semi-final berth.

  Still, captain Powell is proud of how the team progressed throughout the year, moving up the ladder to third place in June 2024 [a recent loss saw them drop a position] in the ICC Men’s T20 International Team Rankings.

  “I think the cricket we have played in the last 12 months or so is commendable," stated Powell in the post-match presentation ceremony.

  "Credit has to be given to the team. If you can take a year to move from number nine to number three in the world, that's tremendous work."

  West Indies put up quite a show during the tournament, with a number of home players firing up the crowd's imagination. There were brilliant wins over New Zealand and Afghanistan.

  The West Indies captain shared his joy in seeing a lot of buzz around the Caribbean again.

  “We haven't won the World Cup, but there was a lot of improvement. There's a lot of buzz around the Caribbean again about West Indies cricket. We have done some very good things over the last 12 months.”

  “Now is where the work starts. It's for us to continue to work as a group, still be tight, and hopefully, just hopefully, we can continue to climb the rankings and make the Caribbean people proud.”

  

  Powell acknowledged the support they received on and off the field during the home World Cup and identified it as a sign that the team was headed in the right direction.

  “That (the support) has been fantastic. For all the venues that we have played, for all the social media likes and stuff that people have given us, we as a team really appreciate it.”

  Emphasizing on comeback of the West Indies’ cricketing culture, he added, “It's good to see that some buzz is back in the Caribbean for cricket, because we know how long that has died down. Now people are rallying around the West Indies as they do. Now, when we hear the anthem play, as players we feel something. I think that is heading in the right direction.”

  The Windies succumbed to a disheartening loss against South Africa to step back from the tournament as they failed to defend a target of 123, in 17 overs (DLS).

  A poor batting display kept them restricted to 135 runs in 20 overs, with Roston Chase (52 runs in 42 balls) bagging himself a half century. With the ball, Alzarri Joseph, Andre Russell, and Chase did an excellent job picking up a total of seven wickets between them but thanks to a composed finish from Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada, the South Africans took home a three-wicket win with five balls to spare.

  Though dismayed at this outing, Powell credited his side for their spirit.

  “As a batting group, this is one batting performance we'll try our best to forget. I think we didn't bat well in the middle overs especially," Powell said.

  "You see both teams bat on the wicket. Obviously, it wasn't an easy wicket, especially to get started. I think it was a commendable bowling effort. 130 (135) at the halfway mark, we said we're just going to give it our all, whatever happens, happens.

  "Credit has to be given to the guys at the halfway mark. They believed, even though it was only 135. They fight to the very end."

   

   

   

   

• Windies eliminated as South Africa withstand nervy finish to confirm World Cup semi-final spot

  South Africa booked their place in the T20 World Cup semi-finals following a tense three-wicket victory over West Indies on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. 

  Following England's success over co-hosts the United States on Sunday, the game in Antigua was a straight shootout to decide the other side to progress from Group 2. 

  The Proteas elected to bowl first and looked in control, having restricted West Indies to 135-8, with Tabraiz Shamsi starring in their attack (3-27). 

  However, Andre Russell struck twice in the second over of the chase, seeing Reeza Hendricks (1) and Quinton de Kock (7) fall to leave South Africa 15-2.

  The West Indies' momentum was halted, though, following a spell of rain at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, forcing the players off the pitch for over an hour. 

  South Africa returned with a new target from their remaining 17 overs, and although Roston Chase, who made 52 with the bat, took three wickets, the Proteas withstood the pressure as Marco Jansen sealed the win with a six with five balls remaining. 

   

  Data Debrief: De Kock breaks T20 record

  With the stumping of Rovman Powell, De Kock became the first player to record 100 dismissals as a wicketkeeper in T20I's (82 catches, 18 stumpings). 

  South Africa have now won each of their last four men’s T20Is played in West Indies, after winning just one of their five games (L4) in the country prior to that. 

   

• Rashid lauds Buttler and Jordan heroics after England thrash USA

  Adil Rashid lauded the match-winning abilities of Chris Jordan and Jos Buttler after England secured their T20 World Cup semi-final spot on Sunday.

  England smashed the United States with a 10-wicket victory as Buttler powered an eye-catching 83, smashing six fours and seven sixes from just 38 balls.

  Matthew Mott's white-ball side reached their 116-run target with a huge 62 deliveries to spare, sealing their place in the last four with ease after only just sneaking into the Super 8s phase.

  Yet the convincing victory would not have been possible without Jordan, who managed four wickets from five balls – including a hat-trick – to end the USA's innings inside 19 overs.

  Rashid, who also took 2-13 from his four-over spell, lavished praise on the England bowler, as well as captain Buttler.

  "CJ's a match-winner," Rashid said in his post-match interview. "He's been doing it for a number of years, especially at the back end.

  "Jos is a world-class player and has been for many a year, and hopefully we can carry it on now in the semi-finals."

  Rashid was keen to share the credit among the entire England line-up, too.

  "All the bowlers bowled extremely well and to restrict them to 115 was very pleasing," the leg-spinner added. "Always nice to keep it tight and get an early wicket which brings the new batter in.

  "With the wind, you have to assess which end you're going to bowl. The googly's been coming out nicely, too."

  Buttler seemed intent on a one-man demolition in England's chase, crunching the United States all over the pitch, including hammering 30 runs off Harmeet Singh's ninth over.

  "I thought if we could bring our intensity we'd be too good," Buttler said. "I'm still one of the 11, I've got to do my job."

  "We've got great options. We wanted to bring Chris Jordan back, adding a bit of depth with his batting capabilities as well. A World Cup hat-trick is a great effort."

  The USA saw their World Cup run come to an end, but their victory over Pakistan will live long in the memory.

  Aaron Jones, the star of the USA for much of the tournament, hopes to have put cricket on the American map.

  "This is our first World Cup," he said. "I don't think people would have thought we'd be playing here against the big boys.

  "Hopefully this will open the eyes of the American public. We've got a lot of calls and messages of support during this World Cup."