Bridgetown (Barbados: Opener Shai Hope blasted an unbeaten 82 as West Indies roared to crush the United States of America by nine wickets in the T20 World Cup Group 2 Super Eight match here.
After bowling out the USA for a mere 128 in 19.5 overs, the West Indies batters went all guns blazing from the word go to knock off the target in 10.5 overs to make 130/1, recording a comfortable win.
The win improved West Indies’ standing in the Group 2 points table. The Caribbean side, which had suffered an eight-wicket hammering from England Wednesday, is now placed second with two points and a Net Run Rate of 1.814.
West Indies skipper Rovman Powell lauded Hope for showing his mettle after being dropped for the contest against England.
“He’s been fantastic, he got a chance against Afghanistan but was dropped next game against England in St Lucia because of the combination. However, he was hungry for a good performance,” Powell said.
“It’s (the win is) very special, Kensington brings back special memories for us. We had a great opportunity to come out and play some good cricket. (Roston) Chase plays really well, plays a role very well. Keeps things tight. On a good surface, he bowled really well,” Powell added.
Johnson Charles fell for a 14-ball 15 with a couple of fours early on but the pair of Hope (82 not out) and Nicholas Pooran did the job for their side, smacking the USA bowlers all around the park here at the Kensington Oval.
Hope made mincemeat of the USA bowling as the right-handed wicketkeeper-batter clattered eight sixes and four fours to make 82 not out from just 39 balls, with Pooran reaching 27 not out from 13 balls with three sixes and a four.
Hope remained at the forefront of WI’s chase as he forged a 67-run stand for the opening partnership with Charles and then added another 63 runs unbeaten for the second wicket with Pooran, which came off only 23 balls as the Caribbean side ruled the roost.
USA skipper Aaron Jones rued not putting up a better show with the bat on a wicket which had plenty of runs.
“(It was a) tough night for the boys. We had to score about 170-180 today. In the middle overs, we lost wickets in clusters, it goes like that sometimes. At the end of the day, we needed runs on the board,” he said.
“We tried to go hard with the ball but we know West Indies are a good batting unit. England will be a good game, we are up for a challenge,” he added.
Earlier after the West Indies put USA in to bat first, Andre Russell (3.5-0-31-3) and Roston Chase (4-0-19-3) made life tough for the opposition batters.
After an early blow in the form of Steven Taylor (2) who was caught at point by chase of Russell, the pair of Andreis Gous and Nitish Kumar (20) forged a strong partnership to revive USA and take them ahead but they both fell after making their respective starts.
Nitish was trapped leg-before by West Indies spinner Gudakesh Motie for 20 off 19 balls with two fours and Gous, who hit three fours and a six in his rapid 29 off 16 balls, was caught at deep midwicket by Hope off Alzarri Joseph in the eighth over and that was when USA’s decline began.
None of the following USA batters could trouble the West Indies as the tournament co-hosts kept chipping away with regular wickets, denying their opponents any momentum with the bat.
USA skipper Aaron Jones (11) was cleaned up by Chase who looked unplayable. Chase grabbed another wicket when he had the veteran Corey Anderson trapped leg-before for seven.
Harmeet Singh, who had provided fireworks with the bat for the USA against South Africa in the last match, fell for a first-ball duck when Chase had him caught by Charles to ensure West Indies remained on top of the proceedings.