West Indies and USA (Source : Getty Images )
Co-hosts West Indies (WI) and United States of America (USA) will take each other on in their Super Eight clash at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Saturday, June 22. Both teams are already in trouble having lost their first fixtures of the round to teams England and South Africa.
USA’s clash against South Africa started optimistically, Saurabh Netravalkar continued his brilliance at the tournament by putting South Africa in trouble early, but Quinton de Kock was undeterred while scoring an aggressive fifty with Aiden Markram for company. Harmeet Singh provided respite with his twin-strikes, and it looked like USA were pulling the game back when Netravalkar saw the back of Markram in the 15th over. Heinrich Klaasen’s timely blows ensured South Africa reached an above-par total and put the Proteas in the driver’s seat.
In the run chase, Steven Taylor started with timely boundaries while his opening partner Andries Gous hung around. Taylor’s dismissal by Kagiso Rabada brought on a phase where USA lost five wickets for 43 runs within a span of approximately eight overs. It looked over for the rising American side at that point, except Harmeet Singh put on a show with the bat that invigorated Andries Gous as well, the pair put on 91 in just seven overs making an absolute match out of it.
Rabada returned to dismiss Harmeet when USA needed 28 runs off 12 balls, and that derailed the Americans once again as they couldn’t cross the finish line after a brilliant 19th over from the fiery pacer left them with too much to do in the last over.
West Indies had a difficult time against England in their fixture, especially with the ball. Brandon King came out all guns blazing but had to leave the field after retiring hurt. Adil Rashid then led a phase where England had Johnson Charles and Nicholas Pooran tied down severely until both of them went down trying to up the tempo.
On what was a good batting surface, Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford gave the final push which put the West Indies at a total that could only be described as at par. Phil Salt and Jos Buttler started the chase mildly, and then England ended up losing their way in the middle overs. A woefully out-of-form Jonny Bairstow set out to rebuild with Salt for company. While Bairstow did most of the heavy lifting, the decisive moment in the game came when Phil Salt tore Romario Shepherd apart for 30 runs in an over, paving the way for England to end the co-hosts’ winning streak in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 edition.
Kensington Oval Pitch Report:
The pitch has seen a preference for high scores in the last few matches, and it will possibly keep behaving the same way. A total on the higher side can be expected as the surface won’t throw too many challenges for the batters.
Check Here: T20 World Cup 2024 Most Wickets
T20I Records & Stats at Kensington Oval:
With two no results and a tie, 19 matches out of 30 have been won batting first here. The average first innings total is 155.
30
Won Batting 1st
19
Won Batting 2nd
08
Tied
01
No Result
02
Highest Team Total
224/5
Lowest Team Total
80
Highest Total Chased
172
Lowest Total Defend
134
Average 1st Inns Score
155
Strategies & Match-ups for WI vs USA:
Both teams have had to grapple with inconsistent batting performances, but this could be the opportunity for West Indies to fix that. With batting first being a clear go-to option at this ground, Both teams will look towards their batting to be the driving force.
Check Here: T20 World Cup 2024 Most Runs
The important matchups are- Johnson Charles vs Saurabh Netravalkar, Sherfane Rutherford vs Nosthush Kenjige, Alzarri Joseph vs Aaron Jones, and Gudakesh Motie vs Steven Taylor, respectively.
X-Factors for West Indies vs USA:
West Indies:
Sherfane Rutherford has been the brightest spot in West Indies’s slightly inconsistent batting, and the Caribbean Islanders will be looking at him again to lift their batting under crunch situations.
United States of America:
The United States’ best department in this tournament has been their bowling, and it has been led by Saurabh Netravalkar. He will once again need to be at his best if USA want to have any hope in this tournament.