The USA Cricket team took on the all-mighty West Indies side in their very first World Cup Qualifier match on June 18 at Takashinga Cricket Club in Harare. On this day, the cricketing fraternity got the very first glimpse of USA’s epic showdown with a full-member nation of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Although the end result did not go their way, USA did definitely try to ruffle some feathers of the West Indies cricket team which eventually gained them a lot of praise.
West Indies are the two-time fifty-overs World Cup Champions who are currently experiencing one of the worst lows in their cricketing history. It is no ordinary feat to dismiss an experienced side like West Indies in less than 50 overs. Despite having T20 specialist stalwarts like Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran, and Jason Holder, West Indies looked very scratchy on the field as they failed to deliver the fireworks against an inexperienced yet highly capable USA side that they are so famously renowned for.
Saurabh Netravalkar and Kyle Phillip bowled some really tidy spells upfront and never allowed West Indian batters to put their feet on the accelerator. Their tight bowling really corned the so-called “Caribbean Calypsos” as they were struggling to get a move on at 15/2 after only 6 overs. Gajanand Singh roared with the bat with his magnificent century but had he received support from the other end, the score line could have looked a little different.
Without further ado, let us jump in to review some of the top performances and reflect on how our national side nearly went on to script history on day one of the 2023 WC Qualifier.
Saurabh Netravalkar & Kyle Phillip Welcome The Windies With Their Top-Notch Bowling Skills
USA got off to a dream start with the ball. Saurabh Netravalkar and Kyle Phillip bowled brilliantly with the new ball and gave hardly anything away in the first 10 overs. The duo consistently got the ball to nip around a bit which really helped USA tighten the screws on West Indies in the earlier stages of the game. Without a run on the board, West Indies lost their in-form Brandon King to a peach of a delivery from Netravalkar. Kyle Mayers was the next to follow suit as he was immensely troubled by the likes of Netravalkar and Phillip. He gave his wicket away to Phillip in the 6th over which further reduced the Men in Maroon to 14-2.
After those two early blows, West Indies did manage to make some recovery during the middle phase of the first innings. Johnson Charles and the skipper Shai Hope put on a match-saving 115 run-stand to bail Windies out of the crisis. But their demise was set in stone as Nosthush Kenjige got into the act and broke the valiant fourth wicket stand which was proving to be dangerous for the US. Kenjige bowled with a lot of heart but without much luck. However, he turned out to be the most economical bowler going at just 4.4 RPO in his allotted ten overs. He only managed to grab one wicket but did extremely well to keep the run flow in check. An over later, Charles was the next victim as Stevan Taylor was the man who provided that breakthrough. That brought Nicholas Pooran to the crease who began to explode from ball number one. But his counterattack approach was not destined to last long as Taylor struck again to dismiss him for 43. And in the following ball, Taylor bagged another wicket by removing Powell for a golden duck. At this stage, West Indies were really reeling at 192/6 after 36 overs. Steven Taylor returned very impressive figures of 3/53 in his eight-over spell.
USA had a fighting chance of bundling the Windies out well below the 250-mark. However, there was still some firepower left in the West Indies’ batting lineup. Jason Holder (56 off 40) and Roston Chase (55 off 55) made a crucial recovery towards the fag end of the innings and ensured West Indies have enough runs to defend. Netravalkar and Phillip returned into the attack and took the remaining wickets to restrict West Indies to 297. The duo shared 6 wickets between them and went at around about 5.5 RPO.
Gajanand Singh puts up a stiff resistance and wages a lone battle in a losing cause
Steven Taylor and Sushant Modani got starts but were unable to convert them into big scores. Holder and Mayers bowled impressively and took full advantage of the new ball. They dismissed the USA openers and reduced them to 35/2 inside 9 overs. The skipper Monank Patel had a day to forget with the bat as he failed to put on a significant contribution. He was dismissed for a paltry 6 (10) by Mayers. The very next over Joseph Alzarri unleashed his venom removing Saiteja Mukkamalla without troubling the scorers. Following his dismissal USA quickly slipped from 54/2 to 54/4 in a matter of few deliveries.
Aaron Jones tries to steady the ship with a decent cameo of 23 (30) but became the victim of a terrible run-out mix up which resulted in his demise under very unfortunate circumstances. At this stage, USA had already lost half their side and were reduced to 97/5 after 21 overs. They were far away from the required target and with no recognized batter to follow, a crushing defeat was looming large. However, Gajanand Singh was not fussed about all of that and played his natural game to give his side a fighting chance. He smashed a record-breaking century of 101 (109) and was well supported by Shayan Jahangir (39 off 49) and Nosthush Kenjige (34 off 32). These useful contributions came a little too late for the Americans as the game had already slipped away from them after the departure of Jessy Singh during the 40th over. Nevertheless, the lower order played some fearless cricket and thwarted the experienced Windies bowling attack before going down.
USA had a golden opportunity of scripting history. But a regular fall of wickets disrupted their momentum significantly which derailed them from their chase. Jason Holder was later adjudged the Player of the Match for his match-winning performance of 56 (40) and 1/36 which got West Indies over the line.
What To Follow
USA will take on Nepal in their next Qualifier match on June 20. Nepal have been deflated after receiving a terrible hammering at the hands of Zimbabwe. Their bowlers failed to deliver with the same intensity as their batters and eventually succumbed to a heavy 8-wicket defeat whilst defending 291. Although Nepal’s overall win record in the last 10 matches is quite impressive, it is the momentum that matters. At present, momentum is not on their side and USA should look to seize this opportunity to make early inroads into the tournament.
Brief Scores
West Indies – 297/10 (Charles 66, Holder 56, Netravalkar 3-53, Phillip 3-56)
USA – 258/7 (Gajanand 101, Jahangir 39, Mayers 2-30, Joseph 2-68)
End Result: West Indies beat USA by 39 runs.