Since 2022 first-round exit in T20 WC, West Indies emerge as contenders for title win at home following run of series wins
W
est Indies is a well-known batting powerhouse in T20 cricket. Having given the world some of its first superstars of the shorter format like Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, and Sunil Narine among others, a team should be ruling out West Indies in the shortest format at its peril.
One thing though is really undeniable, the best days of Windies Cricket were years behind. Having won the ICC T20 World Cup in 2012 and 2016, they have not been able to make a big impact since then. In the 2021 edition of the competition held in UAE, they crashed out in the Super 12 stage after getting a win and facing four losses in Group 1. The next edition of the 2022 competition in Australia waited with a fate worse than the last competition, as the Windies could not even make it to the Super 12. In the qualifiers for this round, they registered two massive losses to Scotland and Ireland and won just one match against Zimbabwe.
But since their disastrous T20 WC 2022 exit, West Indies seems to be on a right track. In February to March last year, they toured South Africa for an all-format series and won the T20I series by 2-1. Two of these games were excellent. In the second T20I, West Indies did score 258/5 thanks to a Johnson Charles century, but a century from Quinton de Kock helped Proteas chase down this massive total, the biggest chase in T20I cricket till yet. In the final decider clash, West Indies managed to defend 221 runs, thanks to a five-wicket haul from Alzarri Joseph and won the game by seven runs.
Their next stop was a home series against India in July-August, another all-format assignment. Though India won the ODI and Test series, the West Indies fought really hard in the T20I series against a young Indian side. The Windies bowling shined, especially Akael Hosein, Romario Shepherd and Alzarri, to give Windies a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Though India bounced back with two easy wins in the next two games, Brandon King and Alzarri Joseph blew India away in the last game, chasing down 166 runs in just 18 overs.
West Indies' next T20I assignments came after the ICC Cricket World Cup in India, against a struggling England in December and Australia in February this year.
An all-round show from a returning Andre Russell and a half-century from Brandon King won West Indies the first two games before England set up an exciting decider by winning two games riding on two back-to-back tons by Phil Salt. However, the spinner Gudakesh Motie helped the Windies secure the series by winning a low-scoring decider by four wickets.
Despite losing in their series against Australia by 2-1, the fight displayed by West Indies was admirable. Inspired by West Indies' first Test win on Australian soil just before the T20I series, West Indies made sure that Aussies had to toil for everything, especially while bowling. West Indies lost the first two games by 11 and 34 runs respectively, with the batting line-up not clicking as a whole. In the last match, West Indies won by 37 runs, thanks to a 29-ball 71-run knock by Andre Russell.
Now, West Indies have secured a three-match series against South Africa again this month. In the first T20I match, the Windies managed to defend 176 runs scored after a superb 74-run knock in 45 balls by Brandon and three-wicket hauls by Matthew Forde and Motie, bundling out Proteas for 147 in 19.5 overs, despite a fiery knock from Reeza Hendricks, who made 87 in just 51 balls as a lone warrior. In the second T20I held on Saturday, WI batting clicked yet again, with Roston Chase scoring 67* in 38 balls to help two-time champions reach 207/7 in their 20 overs. However, led by the opening pair of Quinton de Kock (41 in 17 balls) and Ryan Rickelton (34 in 18 balls), Proteas scored at a fiery run-rate. Motie's spell of 3/22 in four overs managed to keep Proteas 16-run away from the win, securing the series 2-0 with a game to go.
Since their T20 WC exit, West Indies has won 11 matches and lost seven games.
West Indies best performers since T20 WC 2022 exit:
-Brandon King: 521 runs in 17 matches at an average of 34.73 and a strike rate of 134.73, with four half-centuries.
-Rovman Powell: 422 runs in 16 matches at an average of 35.16, with a strike rate of 172.24 and two half-centuries.
-Nicholas Pooran: 421 runs in 16 matches at an average of 26.31 and a strike rate of over 158, with two half-centuries.
-Alzarri Joseph: 19 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 23.78 and an economy rate of 10.15, with the best figures of 5/40.
-Romario Shepherd: 17 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 25.47 and an economy rate of 9.24 and 145 runs with the bat in 12 innings at a strike rate of over 154.
✔️ Since 2022 first-round exit in T20 WC, West Indies emerge as contenders for title win at home following run of series wins
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