England know a lot about us, we know a lot about them: Rovman Powell

The West Indies ended the group stage of the 2024 T20 World Cup with a commanding win over in-form Afghanistan on June 17 (Monday). The Men in Maroon enter the Super 8s unbeaten and will now play England in St Lucia on June 19 (Wednesday).

West Indies hammered 218/5 in their 20 overs and then bundled out Afghanistan for just 114 in 16.2 overs. The surfaces in this World Cup have been extremely tough for batting but the same can’t be said about the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, which has produced four 180-plus totals across six innings.

West Indies captain Rovman Powell said his team have been playing good cricket and they are ready for the defending champions. “It's not necessarily sending them a message. It's just to show them that as much as they are playing good cricket, we're playing good cricket - so come Wednesday night, it should be a very good game.

“I think the conditions are pretty good. It's good for batting, it's good for bowling, it makes for very good cricket. When you look at the English team, they are defending champions. And they are a very good team. And so, it's for us now to just sit and find some plans and see how those plans can work against them.

“We play the English guys so often, we play them actually every year, so they know a lot about us, we know a lot about them. It's just that when you're playing the game on the day, whoever gets on top have to stay on top for as long as possible.”

Talking more about the St Lucia surface, Powell added: “I think it's always been friendly conditions. Fast bowlers actually like bowling here, but I still believe it's 60-40 in favour of batters. If batters get going, it's kind of difficult to stop them. You can see from the innings that Nicholas Puran played tonight, when good batters get set on a good wicket like this, sometimes it becomes difficult to come up with plans to stop them.

“It's just a case of we always knew that St. Lucia was going to be one of the better wickets to play cricket in the Caribbean, because of our experience during CPL and all the years of playing here. It's good that we're starting here and actually we play one game on it before the start of the Super 8s. We're kind of a little bit accustomed to the bounds and accustomed to the wicket maybe. Hopefully, that would suit us a little bit more than the English men.”

The West Indies are one of the few teams with two left-arm spinners - Gudakesh Motie and Akeal Hosein - in the XI. While the latter mostly operates in the powerplay, Motie generally bowls in the middle overs. Hosein has taken nine wickets at an average of 6.88 and an economy of 4.13, while Motie has claimed seven wickets @ 11.85 and an economy of 6.38.

“When we pick the two left-arm spinners, we know that in West Indies conditions, whether the wickets are good or the wickets are bad, they're going to be handful because they're world class. Hopefully, long may it continue for them to keep doing well for us. Akeal is a very, very integral part, especially for controlling the powerplay for us. He has been doing that good, not just for the World Cup, but before the World Cup.”

The West Indies have a settled unit but Obed McCoy, playing his first match of the tournament, picked up three wickets against Afghanistan and will be tough to ignore in the Super 8s. “It's always good, it's always encouraging when you give guys an opportunity and they take the opportunity. 

“It makes for good competition within the squad and it's for us as a selection panel myself the coach and the chairman to actually sit down and try to find the best combination. It's good that guys are putting themselves up and making it a little bit difficult to pick the team.”

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