T20 World Cup 2024: West Indies vs Afghanistan, 40th Match – Who Said What?

Nicholas Pooran. (Photo Source: ICC)

The Caribbean calypso has started in full swing with the second leg of the ongoing T20 cricket extravaganza taking all the crickets fans and experts by storm. Hosts West Indies (WI) squared off against Afghanistan (AFG) in Match 40 of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, played at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, in St Lucia, on Tuesday, June 16.

West Indies smashed 92 runs in the powerplay phase

The Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan after winning the toss elected to bowl first. The decision seemed justified at first when allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai dismissed opener Brandon King early on in the innings. In came, the big hitter West Indian Nicholas Pooran who started toying with the Afghan bowlers for fun along with his partner Johnson Charles. Consequently, the host at one stage hammered Afghanistan 92 runs inside just six overs of the game.

Crowd witnessed a Nicholas Pooran ‘special’ in the T20 World Cup game

Consequently, a special moment arrived when in the fourth over of West Indies’ batting, Nicholas Pooran (98 off 53 balls) made a mockery of Afghanistan allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai as he went on to smack 36 runs in the over. Not just that, en route to his runfest he went on to surpass the ‘Universe Boss’ aka Chris Gayle, to become the batter to have hit most sixes for his nation in the T20I format.

Interestingly enough, the batter was dismissed through a sensational runout and the effort came from none other than Azmatullah Omarzai. Besides, along with Pooran, other batters chipped in vital contributions as skipper Rovman Powell and veteran batter Shai Hope kept the scoreboard ticking.

Afghanistan succumbed to a humiliating defeat ahead of Super Eight phase

In reply, Afghanistan seemed to have succumbed to the run rate pressure as West Indies handed them a monumental target of 219 runs. Akeil Hosein (2/21) struck early for the hosts by dismissing the in-form opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Upon his departure, the Asian side looked in a hurry to catch up with the asking run rate and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. As a result, another West Indian bowler Obed McCoy (3/14) joined the party and claimed a three-wicket haul further to dent the bleak chances of the Asian side getting back into the game.

Also Check: T20 World Cup 2024 Points Table

In the end, West Indies beat Afghanistan by a mammoth 104 runs to make a statement for other teams before starting their Super Eight campaign in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 games.

West Indies vs Afghanistan, Match 40 – Who Said What?

Nicholas Pooran, Player of the Match:

“He talks about the ebb and flow of his innings, here are some highlights from his quotes (not verbatim): “I had to see the conditions early and take responsibility. In West Indies people want fours and sixes but you can’t do that everytime, but when conditions allow, you should capitalise. We wanted to be consistent as a team from 12-14 months ago.”

Rashid Khan, Losing Captain:

“The way they batted, scoring around 90 runs in the powerplay, it is tough to come back from that. But in the middle overs we did well and it was good to restrict them under 200. But this game is good to understand mindset and strategy. Hope to not repeat. (Learnings) Good for us to keep it simple and not experiment. Better to stick with strengths on wickets like these than try too much. Hope to do better when it comes to similar pitches. (Big loss will affect Afghanistan?) Don’t think so. We’ve achieved what we wanted – to get Super Eight. The different pitches coming up… we’ll adjust to them. Good learning this loss happened at this stage, not in a do-or-die game. We take the positives with us, like fielding, middle-overs bowling and Noor’s spell.”

Rovman Powell, Winning Captain:

“(On eight straight wins) Shows hard work is paying off. (Motivation) The guys were excited to come here. We knew here will be one of the better wickets of the competition. After Guyana and Trinidad, the batters wanted to come here and get runs. (Pooran) I think it is on the back of hard work. He has had a very good 12 months. Good to see him score runs not only in franchise cricket but also for WI. (McCoy’s bowling today) When I was bowling, I was telling him that we now have a headache [when it comes to selection]. We are playing in the West Indies, and it is our responsibility to make full use of home conditions. (Home fans) When we started the journey, we were 8th or 9th in the world. Now we are around 3rd in the world, and when you do well, the fans start believing. Guyana was lovely, Trinidad was a packed house, and to see the support St Lucia has given, it is amazing. (Sammy, head coach) I extend my thanks to him and our management. I have started as a young captain, but they have given me what I want. It has been a driving force in my success as a captain and in them believing in me as a leader.”