On Sunday, co-host West Indies beat Papua New Guinea by five wickets in the Twenty20 World Cup’s Caribbean debut. Co-host United States defeated Canada by seven wickets in the tournament opener in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Saturday.
Despite PNG spinners restricting power-hitters, West Indies reached a subpar 137-5 mark with one over to spare.
Only the second PNG batsman to score a half century at a T20 World Cup was Sese Bau. His 50-run innings took the side to 136-8 after 20 overs after West Indies skipper Rovman Powell won the toss and fielded on a spin-friendly pitch.
“Credit to PNG, their plans were simple and they played good cricket,” Powell added.
PNG kept West Indies at 97-5 in 16 overs and scared them. Roston Chase scored an unbeaten 42 from 27 balls to carry the team home.
“It was a competitive score but we believe we missed a trick towards the end,” PNG captain Assad Vala said. “Another 10-15 runs would have been nice.”
First-ball fast bowler Alei Nao trapped West Indies opener Johnson Charles leg before wicket for a duck and could have trapped key batter Nicholas Pooran lbw two balls later, but PNG decided not to go for television referral before rain briefly took the players off the pitch in the second over.
On resumption, Brandon King (34) and Pooran (27) shared a 53-run stand before falling in successive overs while trying to accelerate the scoring rate in the outfield against John Kariko (1-17) and Vala (2-28).
Powell (15) and Sherfane Rutherford (2) struggled to counterattack the spinners before being caught behind cheaply, giving PNG a rare sniff, but Chase kept his calm and didn’t lose the game.
Chase: “I knew from our first innings bowling, it was always hard for batsmen coming in to start. “Starting the tournament with a win is rewarding. The squad needed it, so I took it home.”
Bau’s fourth T20 half century lifted PNG’s total after the top-order fell to 34-3 in the first six overs of batting power play when left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein turned off the wicket from ball one.
Romario Shepherd hit off his fifth ball after Tony Ura edged behind and Hosein cut through Lega Siaka’s defence with a crisp delivery into the right-handed batter.
In an exciting power play for the home team, Vala hit Alzarri Joseph (2-34) for two boundaries before Chase caught him at backward point. PNG fell to 50-4 in the ninth over as Gudakesh Motie struck in his first over as Hiri Hiri reverse swept the spinner before Bau and Charles Amini (12) put up a 44-run stand.
For winners Kolkata Knight Riders, all-rounder Andre Russell (2-19) broke the stand after Amini got the top edge of his bat while trying to cut the cross-seam delivery.
Bau hit six boundaries and a six in 43 balls. In Joseph’s return spell, the fast bowler trapped him with a slow off-cutter and clean bowled him. Kiplin Doriga scored an undefeated 27 off 18 in the death overs.
Group C also includes New Zealand, Uganda, and Afghanistan, two of which will advance to the second round.
Namibia plays Oman in the Group B opener in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Sunday.
