Home Sports More disappointments than glory in T20 Internationals – Keemo Paul is stand...
Reflections on Windies Cricket in 2018 (Part 3)…
A familiar format for the two-time World T20 Champions, and a similar performance was recorded at the end of the 2018. The West Indies played six T20I series and won two, including a lone T20I match that was played against an ICC World XI team in England for the purpose of raising funds. Rovman Powell emerged as the leading run scorer with 180 runs, with a poor average of 20. In the bowling department, Keemo Paul has the most wickets for West Indies in 2018 finishing with 17 T20I wickets. Keswick Williams finished second with 10 wickets and Carlos Brathwaite finished with nine wickets.
The West Indies started their T20 campaign with the 2017-2018 T20I series against New Zealand which they lost 2-0. In the first match, New Zealand defeated West Indies by 47 runs after Windies failed to chase down 188 runs in their allotted 20 overs. The second T20I was washed out due to inclement weather and the West Indies could have only managed to level the series. New Zealand came in the final T20I and outplayed the Windies by 119 runs. Colin Munro was the showstopper, with a masterful 104. The out of sort West Indies team were bowled out for 124 as they started 2018 on a wrong note.
More misery continued as West Indies toured Pakistan to play a historic T20I series which was the return of cricket in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s country. West Indies lost the T20I series 3-0; the first match saw the Caribbean team succumb to a 143 run victory. In pursuit of Pakistan’s 204 for victory in 20 overs, the maroon boys were bundled out for 60 in 13.4 overs. The second match was the similar result, Pakistan closed in the series victory with an 82-run victory. After being bowled out for below-par totals in the first two matches, Windies batsmen fought valiantly as they suffered a eight-wicket victory.
It took the West Indies five months in 2018 to register their first T20I win of the year; West Indies defeated the make-shift ICC XI by 72 runs in the Hurricane relief match played in London, England. Evin Lewis was the star of the show as the 20-over specialist smashed a player-of-the-match 58. With Bangladesh touring the West Indies to play a three match T20I series, the Caribbean team got the home advantage. However, the Windies went downhill as they suffered a 2-1 series defeat. In the first T20I, West Indies won by seven wickets; Andre Russell made his return to the team in style, smashing an unbeaten 35 and bowling four economical overs, which rewarded him the player of the match award. A revengeful Bangladeshi team returned in the second T20I and won by 12 runs and gather momentum to win the final T20I by 19 runs.
After the poor series in the Caribbean and USA against Bangladesh, West Indies were in for a tough challenge. In November 2018, India whitewashed West Indies 3-0, recording three comprehensive victories. The batting woes continued all year long as Windies were restricted to a below-par 109-8 after India’s wrist spinner, Kuldeep Yadav’s heroics. A dominant Virat Kohli-less Indian team led by Rohit Sharma, trounced the Caribbean by 71 runs. Rohit Sharma a white-ball genius smashed 111 to arrest West Indies. The final T20I saw Windies led by a Nicholas Pooran 53* scored 181-3 which was insufficient. Shikar Dhawan’s 92 led India to a third straight win in the three match T20I series.
Perhaps the Windies were saving their best T20I performance for the last. The Caribbean team’s final T20I assignment was against Bangladesh, away from home. Windies snatched a 2-1 series win; in the opening match, the sergeant Sheldon Cottrell and the brilliant Shai Hope led a thumping eight wicket win over Bangladesh. The Shakib Al Hassan-led Bangladesh team bounced back with a 36 run win in the second match but Keemo Paul won the West Indies a T20I series with a superb 5-15 after Evin Lewis’ 89.
Evin Lewis, who played only six matches in contrast to Powell’s 12, finished 2018 with 169 runs while axed opening batsman, Andre Fletcher finished with 162 runs. On March 5, 2019, West Indies will play their next T20I against the touring England in St Lucia. The Carlos Brathwaite team will be aiming to make amends for their poor performance in their specialised T20I format.
