The burden of being a West Indies team in a white-ball World Cup at home is not lost on Rovman Powell, the incumbent captain. They after all play their next game at a stadium named after Daren Sammy, where the stakes are lowered but momentum is still fiercely sought. After the ignominy of not qualifying for the 50-over event in India last year, West Indies are playing with the pressure of needing to ‘bring back the glory days’, which Sammy last did in 2012 and 2016. That too, is not lost on Powell.
Afghanistan don’t carry any baggage from the past, but there’s an unmentioned responsibility to make a successful team out of their globe-trotting T20 stars. To add title credence to their golden generation of Rashids and Noors and Gurbazs. With three wins in three, West Indies and Afghanistan are blemish-free in the group stage but Tuesday perhaps represents their first big test of the tournament. Both teams expectedly went past the lower-ranked PNG and Uganda, while also taking two points off an undercooked New Zealand side. The face-off on Tuesday has nothing weighing on it with regards to progression but both West Indies and Afghanistan have already denied letting thoughts of it being a dead-rubber permeate in the dressing rooms. For as far as they’re concerned, this is another important hoop to jump through before the competitiveness in the tournament is taken up a notch.
When: West Indies vs Afghanistan, 40th Match, Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, June 18, 08:30 PM Local time, 06:00 AM IST
Where: Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St. Lucia
What to expect:Runs once again. 180 has been chased and the 200-mark has been breached in two games so far. Both sides with batting adventurism will look forward to getting out there and swing for the fences
Team Watch
West Indies
The hosts should keep the same side that has earned them three wins in three.
Tactics & Matchups: Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie could be West Indies’ weapons against the high-flying Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The Afghanistan opener has trouble putting away left-arm spinners, scoring at only 101.63 against them in 17 T20I innings since 2021. He has also been dismissed five times by them. If Gurbaz steers clear of Hosein in the PowerPlay, he will then go face-to-face with Motie through the middle-overs.
Probable XI: Brandon King, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran(w), Roston Chase, Rovman Powell(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie
Afghanistan
No reason for Afghanistan to tinker with their winning combination.
Tactics & Matchups: A feisty contest awaits us when Johnson Charles squares off against the two wrist spinners – Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed. Against their ilk, the West Indies opener has scored at strike rates of 166.07 in 10 innings but has also been dismissed six times by them in T20Is since 2021. Shimron Hetmyer has struggled against wrist spinners too, scoring 115 runs off 142 balls at a strike rate of 80.99.
Probable XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan(c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Did you know:
– Johnson Charles is the highest run getter at this venue in T20s, with 939 runs in 31 innings at a strike rate of 135.10
– Fazalhaq Farooqi has been the standout bowler in this tournament, conceding runs at 4.25, 1.50 and 3.75 in the PowerPlay, middle-overs and the death respectively. He is the leading wicket-taker with 12 scalps.
– Akeal Hosein has 5 PowerPlay wickets in 48 deliveries, and has conceded at only 4 runs an over in this phase
What they said:
“It’s been a big opportunity for the guys to play World Cup cricket in their home countries. We started in Guyana with Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Shepherd, Shamar Joseph, and Gudakesh Motie, playing in front of their home crowd. And then we went to Trinidad with Akeal Hosein and Nicholas Pooran. Now it’s time for Johnson Charles to put on a show for his fellow St. Lucians.” – West Indies captain Rovman Powell
“I said to them [the players], one day if you look back, and you were a youngster and I said you were going to play against the West Indies in St. Lucia in a World Cup, you would have bitten someone’s hand off for that opportunity. So don’t let this opportunity pass you by just because there’s nothing on the line with regards to qualification. [There’s] Pride playing for your country.” – Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott
