West Indies captain Rovman Powell praised Roston Chase for his all-rounding performance against Papua New Guinea which grabbed them a 5 wickets victory in their first match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Being a co-host West Indies were scheduled to face Papua New Guinea to play their first match of the tournament on June 2 in Providence Stadium, Guyana.
Though West Indies were one of the teams with strong players they struggled to outperform the other teams in ICC events in recent times. Their first match in 2024 T20 World Cup was also expected to list under their worst-performing list but Chase came as a saviour and led the Windies to register a victory.
Rovman Powell Praised Roston Chase for his match-winning skills
Rovman Powell who captained West Indies against PNG praised Roston Chase for his match-winning skills.
During the post-match presentation, Rovman said “Their plans were simple, and they play some good cricket. It’s important to get two points, and that’s what we did. It’s 10-15 too much (PNG’s total). As a bowling group, that’s what we want to tighten up. Since I turned captain, 70-80 percent team has been playing together.
Starting from the bowling effort, he bowled very well (talking about Chase). And then towards the end, to hold his composure in a pressure game in WC, it’s pleasing for us. Weren’t up to the straps to the level we want to play. We were at 60-70 percent. Hopefully we can correct that for the second game”.
Speaking on the game, West Indies decided to bowl first after winning the toss. Batting first PNG made a struggling start by losing their first two wickets for 7 runs.
Though PNG lost their wickets at regular intervals, Sese Bau on the other end made a steady inning and scored a half-century which led PNG to near 100 runs mark before his dismissal.
Following his dismissal in the 17th over, PNG was in need of making some bold shorts to make an improvement in their scoreboard. PNG’s wicketkeeper Kiplin Doriga made a handy 27 runs from 18 balls and led Papua New Guinea to register 136 runs for 8 wickets loss in 20 overs.
While chasing, West Indies lost one of their opening batter Johnson Charles for a golden duck. Following his dismissal, Nicholas Pooran and B King made a steady partnership and scored 61 runs for the second wicket.
John Kariko broke the half-century stand by dismissing Nicholas Pooran for 27 runs who scored it at a strike rate of just 100.
Soon after Pooran’s dismissal, King too lost his wicket for 34 runs in the 10th over bowled by Assad Vala. Though West Indies lost their wickets in a crucial stage, Windies allrounder Roston Chase with his 27 balls 42 runs, led the West Indies to register their first victory of the tournament by beating PNG by 5 wickets.
Chase won the Player of the Match award for his match-winning knock. West Indies will play their next match of the tournament against Uganda on June 8 in Providence Stadium, Guyana.
