Cricket Showdown in St Lucia: West Indies Flex Muscles Against Afghanistan
As West Indies set out to dismantle Afghanistan’s bowlers in the final T20 World Cup group game in St Lucia on Monday night, the nearby Windjammer hotel staff grumbled about Shai Hope’s inclusion at No. 4, in place of the rested Roston Chase. While the locals have had their fair share of complaints about the West Indies team since their decline as cricket’s powerhouse in the mid-1990s, their current grievances seem more selective and not always rational. This is the challenge England faces as their Super Eights campaign kicks off in the early hours of Thursday.
Hope, who has scored 16 ODI centuries – more than any Englishman except Joe Root – contributed 25 off 17 balls to West Indies’ impressive total of 218/5, the highest of the tournament so far. In a commanding 104-run victory over Afghanistan, West Indies joined Australia and South Africa as the only teams with a 100% record.
The St Lucia Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, named after the West Indies head coach who remains the only captain to win the T20 World Cup twice, will be a raucous atmosphere as 15,000 locals cheer on their team. No team has hit more sixes in the competition than West Indies, though Scotland have matched their tally of 34. England, by comparison, have managed 19, four fewer than the USA.
Leading the charge for the hosts was Johnson Charles, who smashed 43 off 23 balls in the powerplay, the fastest start of the tournament. The dazzling Nicholas Pooran then took over, blasting eight sixes in a 53-ball 98, denied a century only by a direct hit. Captain Rovman Powell’s 26 off 15 balls further pushed West Indies towards the 200-mark, with Powell later warning England, “We wanted to show them that as much as they are playing good cricket, we are playing good cricket.”
The West Indies bowling attack also boasts intriguing options, with left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein and fellow slow left-armer Gudakesh Motie forming a formidable spin duo. Hosein, hailing from the crime-ridden Laventille area of Port of Spain, has used cricket as a means to transcend his challenging upbringing.
“We wanted to show them that as much as they are playing good cricket, we are playing good cricket.”
- Rovman Powell, West Indies Captain
As England’s bowlers Chris Jordan and Liam Livingstone missed training on Tuesday with stomach bugs, the task ahead of Jos Buttler’s side is clear: they will need to find a way to tame the West Indies juggernaut in St Lucia.
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