West Indies vs Papua New Guinea. (Source – Getty Images)
Papua New Guinea (PNG) produced a spirited performance against co-hosts West Indies (WI) in the second match of the T20 World Cup 2024 on Sunday, June 2. However, the West Indies huffed and puffed to a five-wicket win to pick up two crucial points.
Rovman Powell won the toss and asked PNG to bat first at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. The tourists got off to a disappointing start as they lost three wickets for 34 runs inside the powerplay. Inspirational captain Assad Vala played some delightful strokes but departed for 21 in the last over of powerplay.
Sese Bau, who came out to bat at No. 4, played watchfully on a slowish track and scored a 43-ball 50. The PNG batters struggled to hit boundaries and strike rotation was also an issue. In the end, wicketkeeper-batter Kiplin Doriga played an important 27-run knock off 18 balls to take PNG to 136/8 in their 20 overs. Andre Russell starred with the ball, picking up two wickets for 19 runs in his three overs. Alzarri Joseph was a touch expensive but also bagged a couple of wickets.
In the second innings, Kabua Morea started with four dot balls before Brandon King hit two a consecutive boundaries to get the West Indies underway. However, Johnson Charles departed for a golden duck in the second over to send the PNG players into a frenzy. The in-form Nicholas Pooran struggled to find his timing, as he crawled to five runs off 15 balls before cutting lose in Bau’s first over.
Pooran eventually departed after playing an uncharacteristic knock of 27 off as many balls. King hit seven boundaries in his 34-run knock but only lasted 10 deliveries after Pooran’s dismissal. Powell departed in the 14th over, with the Windies in a spot of bother at 85/4 in 14 overs, still needing 52 for a win.
Sherfane Rutherford, who got the nod ahead of the more experienced Shimron Hetmyer, departed cheaply, as the Windies slumped to 97/5 in 16 overs. The dangerous Russell joined Roston Chase at the crease. The latter kept his composure and proved his worth in the team by playing an unbeaten 42-run knock off 27 balls to take the two-time champions to victory with an over to spare. Russell finished not out on 15 off nine balls.
Here are some of the hilarious memes from the WI vs PNG game:
Big teams in every group of T20 World Cup #T20WorldCup #WIvsPNG pic.twitter.com/fFFMPWumkr
— Tigerexch (@tigerexch) June 2, 2024
Carlos Brathwaite says “What a night it was, unbelievable” 🔥🔥
Guyana “Papua New Guinea” “West Indies” #T20WC2024 #WIvsPNG #WI #PNG #T20WorldCup #USA @windiescricket @cricket_png pic.twitter.com/Woz9C04Gp5— The sports (@the_sports_x) June 2, 2024
Poonam yadav batting >>> papua New guinea batters batting
Agree or die👍👍👍#T20WORLDCUP #T20WC24 #T20WC2024 #WIVPNG #WIVSPNG pic.twitter.com/Hmy6uv44Sy
— Aryan don (@aryan68753) June 2, 2024
Empty stands in Guyana.
Empty stadium in the opening match of host West Indies in T20 World Cup 2024.#T20WorldCup2024 #WIvsPNG pic.twitter.com/IoAGZWsMUe
— Cricket Capital (@CricketCapital7) June 2, 2024
Well, this is exciting…. #wivspng pic.twitter.com/q54WcRizIu
— DeadWing (@stamfordstu) June 2, 2024
OK Hear me out Ya’ll
Its Sunday#T20WorldCup is in West Indies
WI are playing & the crowd is not even 10% What am i missing? #WIvsPNG pic.twitter.com/V7SQlrpPJC— The Realistic (@TheRealistic_) June 2, 2024
Papua New guinea batters scored 135+ i can’t believe on my eyes🙄🙄🙄#T20WORLDCUP #T20WC24 #T20WC2024 #WIVPNG #WIVSPNG pic.twitter.com/oL17z6uYM5
— Aryan don (@aryan68753) June 2, 2024
Dei West indies 👀
ennada pantrukinga 👀
Test innings aadinu irukinga dei 👀 pic.twitter.com/Ck4sAUXi6d— ethukkku!!!!! 😌 (@shreeehariii) June 2, 2024
West Indies fans right now remembering Afghanistan will likely bowl 16 overs of spin at us 😭 pic.twitter.com/KEUlpWwVLP
— Caribbean Cricket Podcast (@CaribCricket) June 2, 2024