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When the West Indies play Papua New Guinea in Providence to begin the Caribbean leg of the T20 World Cup in 2024, redemption will be on the agenda. Although West Indies won the championship in 2012 and 2016, they have struggled in the past two seasons. They could only muster one victory in five games in 2021 to qualify for the Super 12s. They lost to Ireland and Scotland in the first round of the 2022 Super 12s, therefore they were unable to advance even that far.
With a side in form and on home soil, the West Indies will aim to relive their heyday. Although PNG might not seem as formidable as some of the other teams, West Indies must get off to a fast start and consider giving their net run-rate an early boost.
They defeated South Africa 3-0 at home prior to the World Cup, despite the fact that both sides were missing several World Cup players. However, the West Indies also triumphed over Australia in their lone warm-up match, smashing 257 in their 20 overs. Well, those are portents.
This year, Andre Russell claims to have a strike rate of 207.89 in T20 cricket. He contributed to the IPL championship victory of Kolkata Knight Riders last week. In the end, Nicholas Pooran was the second-highest run scorer for the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL. For the Rajasthan Royals, Rovman Powell and Shimron Hetmyer both struck at strike rates higher than 150.
PNG hopes to upset some predictions in their first World Cup appearance since 2021 and leave a lasting impression. Ten of their players participated in the 2021 edition, and only four of them are under 25. They also have the experience for it. PNG is a team that relies heavily on pace, and its lone front-line spinner is Charles Amini. However, they will focus on the more experienced hitters. West Indies will know that Assad Vala, Tony Ura, Lega Siaka, and Sese Bau can all put on a show.
The men’s T20 World Cup has never been won by a host country, but West Indies will try to break that record this time. beginning immediately.
Nicholas Pooran is in excellent six-hitting form going into the competition. No batsman in T20 cricket since the beginning of 2023 has hit as many sixes as Pooran’s 154. In T20s this year, he had a strike rate of 167.45 as well. Two days ago, Pooran hit a fifty-eight-run fifty-ball score with five fours and eight sixes against Australia in the Indian Premier League, whilst the rest of his team’s hitters could not muster any sort of strike.
Charles Amini, the one-man PNG spin department, is also a skilled batter, and his all-around skills will be crucial to his team’s success. Amini has scored 994 runs in 48 innings with a strike rate of 118.61, ranking third among PNG’s scorers in T20Is. Moreover, he ranks second among their wicket-takers.