Nicholas Pooran plays a shot during his knock of 98.
West Indies have sent a huge warning shot to all and sundry in the Super Eight of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, as they eased past Afghanistan by 104 runs in their final group stage encounter at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia, on Monday.
The win not only ensured that West Indies head into the next phase of the tournament unbeaten, but more importantly, reaffirmed that the Darren Sammy-coached team is a force to be reckoned with, in their hunt for a third T20 World Cup crown. Their two titles to date were won in 2012 and 2016.
Having already secured qualification in the Super Eight stage, West Indies were chasing form and momentum against Afghanistan in the Group C top-of-the-table clash. However, the co-hosts put to rest any lingering doubt surrounding their title claims with the eye-catching performance that had historians scrambling.
Nicholas Pooran with a 53-ball 98, including six fours and eight sixes, led the record-breaking charge, as he assumed the record for most sixes in T20I for the Caribbean side. His tally, which now stands at 128 sixes, swept past Chris Gayle’s 124.
Homeboy Johnson Charles struck 43 off 27 balls including eight boundaries.
Obed McCoy (3-14) and spinners Gudakesh Motie (2-28) and Akeal Hosein (2-21) then did the damage with the ball.
Pooran’s knock is the highest individual score for the tournament so far, while West Indies’ total was their highest batting score in T20 World Cup, and the biggest of the tournament so far.
In fact, the 332 runs scored across both innings, was also the highest match aggregate involving West Indies and Afghanistan in a T20I.
Scores: West Indies: 218-5 (20 overs); Afghanistan 114 all out (16.2 overs)
Johnson Charles 43 from 27 balls had eight boundaries
After being asked to bat by Afghanistan, West Indies lost Brandon King (seven) in the second over, but it did little to halt their momentum, as Johnson Charles and Nicholas Pooran both clicked into top gear, in the blink of an eye.
Charles struck three boundaries in the third over, which inspired Pooran to do something truly out of this world at the change of ends. The wicketkeeper/batsman produced a 36-run over off Azmatullah Omarzai –6, 5NB, 5WD, 0, 4LB, 4, 6, 6 –being the sequence.
It’s the fifth time in Men’s T20I history an over has gone for 36 runs, and the second time at a World Cup.
The punishment continued, as the pair pushed West Indies to 92 for 1 at the six-over mark. It’s the biggest Powerplay total in Men’s T20 World Cup history.
Charles smacked another boundary that took West Indies to 100 from 7.4 overs, before he was dismissed to end an 80-run stand that took just six overs.
Shai Hope’s 17-ball 25, which had two sixes, helped the run rate stay in double digits, as Pooran raised the bat in the 14th over – his 50 came off just 31 balls and it was his first half-century in a T20 World Cup.
The boundaries had dried up in the middle overs courtesy of Afghanistan’s spinners, who gradually pulled things back, before captain Rovman Powell, who contributed 26 off 15 balls, including two sixes and a four, started finding his range – a six to start the 16th over took the Windies past the 150 mark.
Pooran found his groove again in the 17th over, and later cracked 24 runs off the 18th bowled by Afghanistan’s captain Rashid Khan. The Trinidadian southpaw later fell via the run out route, two runs shy of what would have been a well-deserved century.
Set a mammoth target, Afghanistan tried to set sail towards it, but lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz (zero), who lobbed to Andre Russell off Hosein’s third ball of the first over.
Gulbadin Naib and Ibrahim Zadran briefly steadied the ship at 45-1 at the end of the Powerplay, before Motie removed the former for seven, and triggered a collapse.
Wickets fell at regular intervals, as Afghanistan slipped to 66-5 at the half-way mark and never really recovered. Zadran’s 38 off 28 balls, including five fours and a solitary six, was the highlight of the innings, with Omarzai’s 19-ball 23 and captain Khan’s 18, being the next best scores.
Afy Fletcher takes four as West Indies Women level T20 series with six-wicket triumph over Sri Lanka in second T20I
The West Indies Women secured their first victory of the tour in Sri Lanka with a convincing six-wicket win in the second T20 International on Wednesday. The win, achieved via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method, saw the West Indies chase down a revised target of 99 runs with nine balls to spare, leveling the three-match T20I series 1-1.
After rain interrupted play in Hambantota, the West Indies were set a DLS-adjusted target of 99 runs in 15 overs. The chase was anchored by Stafanie Taylor, who scored an unbeaten 28 off 26 balls, ensuring her team stayed ahead of the DLS-par score throughout the innings.
Captain Hayley Matthews and Taylor got the visitors off to an ideal start, putting together a 44-run opening partnership in just 6.5 overs. Matthews, who scored 29 runs, fell to an arm ball from Sachini Nisansala, but her solid start provided a foundation for the West Indies' chase. Taylor then took control, forming a crucial 18-ball 24-run second-wicket partnership with Shemaine Campbelle, who contributed a quickfire 16 off 13 balls.
Despite the subsequent dismissals of Campbelle, Qiana Joseph, and Chedean Nation, the required run rate remained manageable, thanks to the positive approach of the West Indies batters. Aaliyah Alleyne sealed the victory with three boundaries off Kavisha Dilhari in the penultimate over, extinguishing any hopes of a Sri Lankan comeback.
Earlier in the match, Afy Fletcher played a pivotal role in restricting Sri Lanka to 89 for 4 in 15.2 overs before rain halted their innings. Fletcher's impressive figures of 4 for 23 included crucial wickets that derailed the hosts' innings. Chamari Athapaththu and Vishmi Gunaratne had given Sri Lanka a steady start with a 44-run opening partnership, but their efforts came at a conservative pace, just under a run a ball.
Fletcher's breakthrough came when she spun one past Athapaththu, disturbing her stumps and halting her at 26 runs. Gunaratne, who labored for 24 runs off 35 balls, was trapped lbw by a Fletcher googly in the 14th over. Fletcher's earlier dismissals of Imesha Dulani, who was bowled while attempting a sweep, and Harshitha Samarawickrama, who top-edged a delivery, had already put Sri Lanka on the back foot.
Kavisha Dilhari showed some promise of a late counterattack, scoring 14 not out off just six balls, including two boundaries, but the rain brought an abrupt end to Sri Lanka's innings, leaving them with an incomplete total.
With this victory, the West Indies Women not only leveled the series but also gained crucial momentum heading into the final T20I.
South Africa's 'near misses' stay in the past, says Walter
South Africa coach Rob Walter says his players will not feel the burden of near misses in the past as they prepare for their T20 World Cup semi-final against Afghanistan.
The Proteas withstood a nervy finish to get a three-wicket victory over co-hosts West Indies in Antigua, maintaining their perfect run at the tournament with seven wins from seven so far.
South Africa have never made it past the semi-final stage of the T20 World Cup, with this due to be their third such appearance.
This time around, they have been on the right side of tight wins, and Walter is keen to ease any pressure from past results that could hinder the team.
"The near misses in the past, they belong to the people who missed them," Walter said. "To be honest, this team is a different team.
"We own whatever is ours to own. And so, our nearest reflection point is this tournament where we've managed to get over the line. So that's what we think about.
"I think there's always an energy that you can feel that's tangible when it comes to a semi-final.
"There'll be a mixture of emotions which is with anxiety, but excitement and I think anyone in any sport, if they get to this phase of a competition, feels that. And so really, it's just acknowledging that and accepting it and then just understanding what you'll do with that.
"We still want to play our best cricket in the key moments of the game."
'England have to be at our best to beat India', Moeen Ali insists
Moeen Ali acknowledged England will "have to be at our best" to beat India when they lock horns in the T20 World Cup semi-finals on Thursday.
The reigning champions have recovered from a slow start to their total defence to reach their fourth successive semi-final in the competition.
England have subsequently set up a rematch of their showdown with India at this stage of the 2022 competition, when Jos Buttler and Alex Hales inspired England to a 10-wicket victory with four overs to spare.
Two years later, they face an India side full of momentum having won all six of their completed matches, while eliminating 50-over world champions Australia with a 24-run win on Monday.
And Moeen knows England cannot afford to be off the pace in Guyana if they are to replicate their 2022 exploits.
"They looked very, very strong, like they did in the last World Cup," he said. "They're just a brilliant side. They've got everything covered, so we're going to have to be at our best to beat them. I'm looking forward to it.
"It's a great challenge, similar to the last time we played them in the semi-final in Australia. It's going to be a challenge, and we're going to have to plan and play really well."
Remembering that 2022 semi-final, Moeen added: "We were unbelievable with the bat. We set the game up on that wicket with the ball. Even when they got away from us a little bit at the end, it was a bit late. That was a great day, and a great performance."
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