West Indies kept their hopes alive for a semi-final spot in the T20 World Cup after a clinical win against the USA in Barbados on Friday night.
During the Super Eight encounter at Kensington Oval, the two host nations competed against one another after facing losses in their previous matches. While the United States had gone down to South Africa by 18 runs, England had defeated West Indies by eight wickets.
The West Indies needed a big win against the USA to stay alive in the competition and they managed to do just that, chasing down 129 in just 65 deliveries. Rovman Powell won the toss and put the USA into the bat first, a decision that paid off right away. Andre Russell, bowling with the new ball, sent back Steven Taylor for two. Andries Gous and Nitish Kumar stitched together 48 runs for the second wicket, which was the only notable stand in the innings.
Chase runs through middle order
After Nitish fell to Gudakesh in the seventh over, it was a Roston Chase show thereafter, with the off-spinner scalping 3-19 in his four overs, his best-ever T20I figures. He massively restricted the run flow in the middle overs, with the USA scoring only 30 runs for the loss of three wickets between overs 9-15. A 15-run over from Russell in the 18th, where he conceded a six and two fours, brought USA near to the 130-run mark.
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Intending to increase their Net Run Rate, which had taken a beating after the defeat to England, the West Indies began with intent, racing away to 58 after the end of the powerplay. Shai Hope was the wrecker-in-chief, making 42 in his first 23 balls, while Johnson Charles struggled at the other end, making 15 in 13 in the first six.
Hope gets first fifty since 2019
Charles was dismissed in the next over for a 14-ball 15 but there was no stopping Hope, who made his first T20I fifty since 2019, getting to the milestone in 26 balls. He carried on, getting his highest score in the format and was unbeaten on 82 off just 39 deliveries with the help of eight sixes, the most he has hit in an innings in the format.
At the other end, Nicholas Pooran made 27* in 12, hitting the winning runs in the 11th over as the team won with 55 balls to spare.
The win helped the West Indies (+1.814) overtake England (+0.412) on Net Run Rate in the points table. West Indies’ next clash is against South Africa on Sunday.
Watch the highlights of WI vs USA here:
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