On Monday left-handed batsman Nicholas Pooran exhibited a mix of grace and power, hitting 98 runs including eight sixes. This propelled the home side to a 104-run victory over Afghanistan in the final first-round match at Gros Islet.
Pooran was run out by Azmatullah Omarzai’s direct hit on the stumps in the final over while attempting a second run. This run-out climaxed the West Indies’ innings at 218 for five, marking the highest score of the tournament so far.
In response, Afghanistan only managed to score 114 runs from 16.2 overs. Nonetheless, this result was largely academic since both teams were already assured of places in this week’s Super Eight round which is set to open tomorrow.
West Indies began their innings aggressively after being put into bat on an excellent pitch and before a lively crowd. Opening batsman Brandon King led from the front when he flicked the first ball from left-arm paceman Fazalhaq Farooqi through square leg for four runs.
Johnson Charles continued attacking with another four which went square off and ended up being 13 runs in all while West Indian wicket keeper/batsman Mohammad Shahzad batted with intent as he hit two more fours in his next over.
While King was bowled clean out, Pooran who has been hitting more sixes than anyone else in T20’s this decade, smacked one six and a four helping take team’s total to fifty within less than four overs.
Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan bowled himself into the attack early on to try and stem the tide with his wrist spinners and ended up giving away twelve runs thereabout by end of that over. As it happened during powerplay West Indies were 92/1-the highest score after six overs in T20 World Cups ever.
The Afghan bowling attack did slow down rate somehow but till they had reached 10 overs West Indies were already sitting on a score of 113/2 and had moved to 148/3 after fifteen overs. The team reached the 200-run mark in the 18.5th over, courtesy of Gulbadin Naib, who was the seventh bowler utilized.
Afghanistan never stood a chance as West Indies bowlers kept things tight right from the start. Obed McCoy, playing his first match in this tournament had a good variation of lengths and change of pace which earned him three wickets for just fourteen runs.
Pooran also had a stunning diving catch behind the stumps.
“I needed to take charge,” Pooran stated after scoring the highest individual total at this year’s competition.
“Four and sixes are what people want back home in West Indies. You can’t do that all the time but you should make use of it when situations permit.”
