Papua New Guinea and the West Indies squared off in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Group C match at Providence, and the Caribbean team emerged victorious in an exciting battle.
Having lost the toss, Papua New Guinea elected to bat first and were dealt a blow early on when opener Tony Ura left the pitch after only two runs. After an early blow, skipper Assad Vala calmed things down with a disciplined innings of 21 runs off 22 balls. Lega Siaka also contributed momentarily, but Sese Bau’s half-century, which came at the cost of 43 deliveries, was crucial.
But Andre Russell and Alzarri Joseph, the bowlers for the West Indies, bowled with discipline, taking important wickets at regular intervals to limit the amount of runs scored. Papua New Guinea was kept to a respectable score of 136/8 in their allotted 20 overs thanks to the two wickets each taken by Russell and Joseph, and the one wicket each contributed by Akeal Hosein, Romario Shepherd, and Gudakesh Motie.
1. The powerpack performance of WI
In response, West Indies suffered an early defeat when Johnson Charles, the opener, was sent out without raising any flags. But Nicholas Pooran and Brandon King combined for 53 runs to stabilise the batting before Pooran was out for 27.
Also read: T20 World Cup 2024: WI vs PNG- Who said What?
The West Indies were subsequently led towards the target by Roston Chase, who grabbed control of the innings with a magnificent unbeaten effort of 42 runs off just 27 balls. West Indies secured a vital victory in their T20 World Cup campaign despite losing a few quick wickets in the end thanks to Andre Russell’s spectacular 15 runs off nine balls. With five wickets down and six balls remaining, West Indies managed to chase down the goal of 137 runs.
2. The exceptional bowler for Papua New Guinea
Assad Vala was Papua New Guinea’s most impressive bowler with two wickets, but it wasn’t enough to stop the West Indies from winning. Although New Guinea put up a great battle against the United States, their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign did not get off to a good start.
These are a few more game highlights:
1.5 million people watching Papua New Guinea play cricket.
Despite all that’s wrong and all that needs to be done in growing the game, moments like this are absolute WINS for the sport that has massively sucked at being a global game. #WIvsPNG #T20WorldCup2024 pic.twitter.com/nzZMBdsljn
— Gaurav Nandan Tripathi 🜃 (@Cric_Beyond_Ent) June 2, 2024
Well played, Sese Bau
#WIvsPNG #ICC #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/vGthx9ehhK
— Hassan Tufail (@Ha55anTufail) June 2, 2024
TH EMPTY STANDS IN GUYANA
The sad for seen T20 world cup home team match West Indies #WIvsPNG #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/rIQzUazxdY
— Cricketman (@Manojy9812) June 2, 2024
142KPH delivery from Alzarri Joseph hits the stumps and the bails did not fall
— Zafar Iqbal (@zafarlakarmar) June 2, 2024
Roston Chase playing the type of innings he’s in the team to play. Real rescue job. Disappointing overall performance, if we’re being honest.#T20WorldCup #WIvsPNG
— Line & Length WI (@LineAndLengthWI) June 2, 2024
West Indies beat PNG by 5 wkts and win their first group game ♥️
#T20WorldCup2024 | #PNGvsWI | #WIvsPNG
— Rayham
(@Rayham__56) June 2, 2024
Good innings from Chase #WIvsPNG
— Kimone Francis (@kimzTm) June 2, 2024
The jitters in the West Indies camp being felt across the cricket world …..
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 2, 2024
India
