Roston Chase remained unbeaten with 42 runs off 27 balls. Despite forecasts of thunderstorms, West Indies captain Rovman Powell chose to field after winning the toss under a bright blue sky in Guyana’s Providence. The captain cited both the weather forecast and the condition of the wicket as reasons for this decision.
As predicted, rain interrupted the match at Providence on Sunday. However, the skies cleared quickly. Although there were initial concerns about an upset, home spectators left the stadium smiling as their team began the T20 World Cup with a victory.
The two-time T20 world champions reached the target of 137 runs with six balls and five wickets to spare. West Indies had scored 8 runs for 1 wicket in 1.4 overs when the rain came. They had made 8 runs in the first over itself.
PNG pacer Alei Nao gifted Johnson Charles a golden duck on the first ball of the second over. West Indies couldn’t score any runs off the next three balls of the over. There was a 15-16 minute rain break.
After the break, Nao didn’t concede any runs off the last two balls of the over. In the 10th over, PNG captain Asad Vala took a maiden wicket. Brendan King (34 off 29 balls) was caught by Lega Siaka at deep midwicket while attempting a slog sweep on the fifth ball of the over.
West Indies’ score was then 63/3. In the previous over, Nicholas Pooran (27 off 27 balls), who had built a 53-run partnership with King for the second wicket, was dismissed.
In the 14th over, when Chad Soper dismissed Powell (15 off 14 balls), West Indies needed 52 runs off 36 balls. Two overs later, the equation was 40 runs off 24 balls with five wickets in hand.
Andre Russell and Roston Chase settled the equation with one over to spare. Chase remained unbeaten on 42 off 27 balls, and Russell on 15 off 9 balls.
Earlier, PNG scored 136 runs for 8 wickets. Ses Bau, batting at number four, scored the highest with 50 runs off 43 balls. Kiplin Doriga contributed 27 runs off 18 balls. West Indies pacers Andre Russell and Alzarri Joseph took two wickets each, but the most economical bowler was left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, who took 1 wicket for 9 runs in 3 overs.
