Oshane Thomas led with the ball and Chris Gayle did the damage with the bat, as the West Indies registered a commanding 7 wicket victory over Pakistan in their opening game of the 2019 Cricket World Cup at Trent Bridge.
Gayle struck an even 50 runs from 34 balls, to ease the Caribbean men across the line at 108 for 3, after an impressive showing from the Windies seamers, who bundled out the Pakistanis for 105 off 31.4 overs, this after skipper Jason Holder invited them to take first strike on a bouncy Trent Bridge pitch.
With an average first innings total of 361 over the past five years; when WINDIES took on Pakistan at Trent Bridge–with Gayle, Hope, Babar and Fakhar all on show–headlines were expected to be written with the bat. As the Caribbean seamers would have it, they were written in Dukes’ white instead.
Jason Holder called the toss correctly and backed his batsmen to chase whatever target Pakistan would set. The Pakistani innings got going with a first-ball wide from Sheldon Cottrell. And though the left-arm seamers went on to beat the bat a few times before getting the chance to unveil his salute on the biggest stage; both he and Jason Holder were far too wayward with the new-ball.
The captain removed himself from the attack following his expensive start, being replaced by Andre Russell. The pace of the Jamaican took the Pakistani batsmen by surprise in what was a game-changing spell of 2 for 4 from 3, from the all-rounder.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Cricket West Indies (CWI) has launched a ground-breaking new live Match Centre on www.windiescricket.com with a host of interactive features giving fans real time, ball-by-ball visualisations to follow all the action, starting with the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 England & Wales.
The new Match Centre allows fans of the West Indies men and women’s teams to get closer to the action than ever before. Whether they’re at home or on the move, fans can quickly access the “LIVE” button in the Match Centre and follow every West Indies International match no matter what device they’re using.
The responsive mobile-friendly design allows fans to follow live matches in real-time from any digital platform. The innovative presentation of the score shows each ball bowled, also enabling fans to immediately understand the type of shot played, the type of ball bowled, bowling speed and much more
The West Indies will enter the fray of the 2019 World Cup on the second day of competition, when they take on Pakistan at Trent Bridge on Friday morning. The pat on the back the team so required, arrived just in time in the form of a huge win against the Kiwis in what was the final warm-up game for both teams.
The batting display was a reminder, for those who needed one, that the West Indies can indeed go head-to-head with anyone, willow in hand. However, those of us who are informed will know that the worry remains at the door of the bowlers. And in a tournament where runs will be aplenty; teams will need their bowling attacks to stand out – for the right reasons.
In some ways, the balance of this WINDIES unit will rest on the fitness and/or role of one Andre Russell (well, as balanced as a team can be without a death-bowler).
DUBLIN, Ireland- Hayley Matthews saved the best for the third and final match of the Hanley Energy T20 International series between the West Indies Women and Ireland Women at the Pembroke Cricket Club in Dublin, scoring her maiden T20 International century to finish the innings on 107 not out as the West Indies Women posted 188/1 from their 20 overs.
Hayley took a liking to the Irish bowlers as she smashed them around the ground bringing up her maiden century in 59 deliveries, which included 7-fours and 9-sixes. She took charge after the fall of Britney Cooper’s wicket with the score on 26. Chedean Nation joined Hayley and the pair posted the highest T20 partnership by the West Indies Women, of 162 runs. Chedean scored her second T20 half-century, she matched Hayley shot for shot, her 63 not out included 6-fours and 2-sixes.
This three-match T20 International series was used by the West Indies Women as preparation and acclimatization for the three-match One Day International series as part of the ICC Women’s Championships and three T20 Internationals.
