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Do you remember when T20 cricket was introduced for the first ever time?
It was all about the glam and slam-bang cricket in a carnival-like setup. Over the years, while the glam of the format has slowly diminished, the glitz and carnival-like feel have remained. Which country better than the West Indies — the lodestone for entertainment and cricket — to host the T20 World Cup?
After a disastrous first-round exit at the 2022 global event, it was a real chance for cricket to revive itself in the Caribbean islands.
Three fixtures into the competition, West Indies have played a brand of cricket that has embodied everything that cricket stood for on the island. In the process, they have also beaten one of the strongest all-round sides in New Zealand.
So, how did West Indies, the side that didn’t even qualify for the next stage in the 2022 T20 World Cup, go on to put on a stellar show here in the Caribbean?
Akeal Hosein’s amazing powerplay
There are good powerplay bowlers, there are great powerplay bowlers and then there is Akeal Hosein.
In the powerplay this edition, only Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi (5) has as many wickets as the left-arm spinner from the Caribbean. The 31-year-old has struck five times, averaging 6.4 in the powerplay phase of the competition, with an economy rate of 4!
What’s working?
The name of the game is consistency. 83.3% of Hosein’s deliveries in the powerplay have been in good length area, where he has picked up four wickets. All of his five wickets in the first six-over phase have been arm balls that have caught the batters by total surprise.
In the three games they have played thus far, he’s finished with figures of 1/18, 3/10 and 1/4 in the powerplay, with an economy of 6, 3.3 and 2.
Roston Chase, the anchor that binds the Windies batting together
One of the things that was lacking in the Windies’ early exit in the 2022 T20 World Cup was an anchor. While the anchor’s role is slowly going out of fashion, the aggressive nature of the other Windies batters makes Roston Chase extremely valuable.
It was evident in the Windies’ run chase against PNG, where if not for his 27-ball 42, the hosts would have been staring at defeat. His role in the side has helped them multifold. Not only does he provide the right foil during the middle overs, but he can also double up as an off-spinning option, almost filling the void like Marlon Samuels.
In many ways, it is that comfort factor of knowing that someone like Chase is there in the batting unit that has made life easy for others.
Tough but brave call to pick Rutherford over Hetmyer
Had Rovman Powell picked Shimron Hetymer, no one would have batted an eye. After all, the left-hander has been an integral part of the Rajasthan Royals’ setup over the last two years. But not picking him is a brave call over someone with zero Indian Premier League (IPL) matches under his belt this year.
Sherfane Rutherford vindicated the call with a stellar 68* against New Zealand. At 22/4, the Windies were searching for solutions, but that’s when Rutherford stood tall, with the innings of the World Cup (so far). He was six off ten at one point in the contest before hitting his first six against Mitchell Santner.
Even after 22 balls, he was only on 21 playing the long game. Rutherford was aware that the Kiwis were a frontline pace option short, needing two overs from Daryl Mitchell and Santner in the end. In the 19th over, he took 19 runs off Mitchell’s bowling before smacking 18 in the last over, taking his score to 68* off 39.
It is that game smartness that Rutherford brings to the table that tilted the selection in his favour. He’s single-handedly contributed 56 runs across three fixtures, with a strike rate of 200 at the death, a major contributor behind Windies’ 10.7 run rate in the last five overs. The average run rate at the death in this edition has been just 8.04.
Alzarri Joseph returns to form
When Alzarri Joseph turned up for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), there’s a good chance that the Windies management would have been worried.
However, all of that worry vanished with Joseph showing his class in the Maroon jersey. Despite the conditions not being as pace-friendly as the ones in the United States, Joseph has picked up eight wickets in the competition, averaging 7.4 with an ER of 5.4.
72.5% of his wicket deliveries have been either short or back of a length, where he has scalped six victims. Even his economy rate is only 3.6 when pitched short. With the rest of the T20 World Cup set to happen in the Caribbean, Joseph returning to form could be a big advantage for the Windies.
Perfect usage of the home conditions
Of course, it is a home World Cup for the Windies, and they have taken the fullest advantage of that factor. It was the Windies’ first appearance in front of a jam-packed crowd in Trinidad, and they played the conditions to perfection.
Windies were one of the few sides in the competition to feature two left-arm spinners — Gudakesh Motie and Hosein — one who primarily bowls in the powerplay and the other in the middle overs. Across 25 overs of spin, they have picked up 12 wickets - the most for any team in this year’s edition, averaging 10.6, following the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) trends.
Powell’s men have done something West Indies haven’t been able to do in the last two editions - qualify for the second-round. But this is just the start, and given how all the games are set to be played in the Caribbean, they might be one of the front-runners to lift the coveted trophy a record third time.
The stars are aligning.
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