Two Caribbean breakaway stars, Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell, have led West Indies to an impressive 35-run win against Australia in a T20 World Cup warm-up match played at Trinidad.
The match took place at Queens Park Oval where the Windies amassed the daunting total of 257/4 which was beyond reach for the Aussies. The victory is a major boost for the West Indies as they prepare for their opener against Papua New Guinea in the T20 World Cup.
Nicholas Pooran was easily the most spectacular performer with 75 runs. He did that in only 25 balls smashing eight sixes and five fours which set up an aggressive batting approach for his team mates.
Skipper Rovman Powell also played a crucial role, hitting 52 quickly off just 25 balls with four boundaries and four sixes. Contributions from Sherfane Rutherford unbeaten on 47 off just 18 balls and Johnson Charles who added another forty runs from thirty one deliveries were other standout performances that showed how deep their batting talents went into their line up.
Australia’s bowlers struggled to contain the West Indies’ batters as Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood and Ashton Agar each gave away over fifty runs in their four overs stints. Despite grabbing two wickets between wickets, Zampa conceded sixty-two runs showing how difficult it can be for any Australian bowler against West Indians.
In reply, Australia made an admirable attempt to chase down this target but fell short at 222/7. Josh Inglis spearheaded this charge with a blistering knock of fifty-five off thirty balls accompanied by Nathan Ellis (39) and Ashton Agar (28). Though missing several key players, Australia’s batting order exhibited resilience despite not reaching that near-impossible target.
For West Indies, Gudakesh Motie and Alzarri Joseph shared two wickets each to ensure they defended their total. These performances along with their explosive batting show that West Indies are strong in all aspects of the game.
In another warm up match, Namibia narrowly overtook Papua New Guinea by three runs (DLS method) after rain affected the game. Papua New Guinea posted 109/7 in their 20 overs while Namibia were at 93/6 when the match was interrupted due to rain in the seventeenth over thereby showing that these T20 World Cup warm up games are not just walkovers.
