Nicholas Pooran scored 40 runs off just 22 deliveries to breathe life into a lackluster batting display by the defending champions.
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A powerful knock by Nicholas Pooran helped the West Indies reach a respectable total in a must-win match against Bangladesh in the 2021 Men’s ICC T20 World Cup on Friday. Pooran scored 40 runs off just 22 deliveries to breathe life into a lackluster batting display by the defending champions on the day. Roston Chase also made a good amount of runs but he took way too many deliveries. Chase scored 39 runs off 46 deliveries. Had Pooran been in the middle until the end, the West Indies might have reached a bigger total but Bangladesh bowler Shoriful Islam played spoilsport as he dismissed Pooran and Chase in successive balls. The West Indies posted 142-7 in 20 overs.
The star batter on the day for the West Indies was undoubtedly Pooran. He seemed to be the only one on the team who understood the pitch and played brilliantly when his team was 62-4. Pooran scored 40 runs in just 22 deliveries, in a knock that included one boundary and four maximums. Things would have been better had Chase been able to bat with a better strike rate, but he managed to score 39 runs in 46 deliveries. The rate of scoring was extremely slow for a T20 match.
Thankfully for the West Indies, all-rounder Jason Holder played a late cameo to get the score to over 140. Holder hit two consecutive sixes in the final over off Mustafizur Rahman before giving the strike to skipper Kieron Pollard. Holder scored an unbeaten 15 runs off just five deliveries.
Pollard was retired hurt earlier in the innings as he was reportedly feeling ill but he came back at the death to finish the innings in style for his team. He smashed a massive six of the last delivery and remained unbeaten on 14 off 18 deliveries. Despite the sluggish start to the innings, the West Indies will be quite happy with the total they posted after 20 overs.
Had it not been for Shoriful Islam, things could have been worse for Bangladesh who also have to win the match to stay in the competition. Islam picked the two crucial wickets of Chase and Pooran in consecutive deliveries. While Chase was not looking dangerous, Pooran was at his explosive best. Shoriful picked two wickets for just 20 runs in four overs.
Pacer Mustafizur Rahman bagged a couple of wickets but he was expensive as he conceded 43 runs in four overs. Spinner Mahedi Hasan also picked two wickets and he conceded 27 runs in four overs.
