The West Indies came close to messing it up once again against an Associate team in a World Cup. On Sunday though, they avoided such an ignominy, thanks to Roston Chase’s unbeaten 42 off 27 balls that helped them beat minnows Papua New Guinea by five wickets and begin their T20 World Cup campaign with a victory.
The Windies, bowling first after winning the toss at the Providence Stadium, couldn’t close out the PNG innings well as they conceded 37 off the last three overs, which enabled the visitors to post 136/8 even after wobbling at 99/6 in 17 overs. Sese Bau, batting at No.4, made a spirited half-century (50 off 43 balls) to thwart the Windies bowlers.
The co-hosts were well placed at 52/1 after the Powerplay. But the dismissals of opener Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran in back-to-back overs turned the screws on the Windies.
PNG’s spin duo of left-armer John Kariko (1/17) and captain Assad Vala (2/28) brought their side right back into the contest. At the same time, the Windies batters’ inability to rotate the strike and constant look for big strokes on a slow track backfired.
Skipper Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford too perished a little later as all of a sudden, the Windies had to get 40 off the last four overs. Fortunately, PNG’s inexperience of not being in such positions against full-member teams showed as Chase and all-rounder Andre Russell (15 not out off 9 balls), after 2/19 with the ball, brought their strokes into play and took only 18 balls to get those remaining runs as the Windies won with an over to spare.
Earlier, PNG were reeling at 50/four before Bau shared a 44-run stand with Charles Amini (12) that helped to consolidate PNG’s innings. Bau’s knock comprised six boundaries and a maximum.
Skipper Vala (21 off 22 balls) also had come up with a couple of crisp hits in the cover region before being caught brilliantly by Chase at backward point. Vala’s six over extra cover off spinner Chase was one of the highlights of PNG’s innings.
For the Windies, pacer Alzarri Joseph also struck twice, while left-arm spinner Akeal Hossain (1/9 in 3 overs) also impressed.
Brief scores: Papua New Guinea 136/8 in 20 ovs (S. Bau 50; A. Russell 2/19, A. Joseph 2/34). West Indies 137/5 in 19 ovs (R. Chase 42 n.o.; A. Vala 2/28). West Indies won by 5 wickets.
