West Indies captain Rovman Powell invited Papua New Guinea to bat first after winning the toss in the second match of the T20 World Cup 2024 being played at Guyana’s Providence stadium on Sunday.
“With the inclement weather around and on a fresh wicket, it’s right for us to have a bowl,” Powell said.
The West Indies have the potential to surprise all the heavyweights in the competition. They boast powerful batters, economical bowlers, and versatile all-rounders—everything a champion side needs. However, their one shortfall is consistency. If they can address that, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them increase their T20 World Cup winners’ tally from two to three.
Papua New Guinea enter this World Cup with no expectations, being ranked 20th in the latest ICC T20I rankings. Their head coach, Tatenda Taibu, who was once an IPL player, understands that his team is here to gain experience by facing some of the most formidable forces in the game and to learn lessons for the future.
Playing XIs
West Indies: 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Brandon King, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Roston Chase, 5 Rovman Powell (capt), 6 Sherfane Rutherford, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Gudakesh Motie
PNG: 1 Tony Ura, 2 Assad Vala (capt), 4 Sese Bau, 5 Hiri Hiri, 6 Charles Amini, 7 Kipling Doriga, 8 Alei Nao, 9 Chad Soper, 10 Kabua Morea, 11 John Kariko
