The co-hosts of T20 World Cup 2024, West Indies, are taking on Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the second match of the multi-team event at Providence Stadium in Guyana. Windies skipper Rovman Powell won the toss and chose to field first, hoping to leverage the fresh wicket and inclement weather conditions.
Reason for Shimron Hetmyer’s absence
West Indies made a strategic selection by picking Roston Chase as an all-round spin option in the middle order, opting to leave out Shimron Hetmyer. The bowling attack is spearheaded by Alzarri Joseph, with Andre Russell and Romario Shepherd providing additional pace. Left-arm spinners Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie complete the attack, ensuring a balanced combination of pace and spin.
“We are going to bowl first. It is a fresh wicket; we will hope to restrict them and then our batters can chase it down. It is going to be the same Providence wicket and it provides us an opportunity to play good cricket. With inclement weather around and also a fresh wicket, it’s natural to have a bowl. Then our batters can assess and decide what’s the plan to play on the wicket,” said Powell at the toss.
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Norman Vanua excluded from PNG’s final XI
Meanwhile PNG, who dominated the East Asia Pacific qualifying by winning all six of their matches, made notable selections in their playing XI. They included nine players from their 2021 T20 World Cup squad but excluded Norman Vanua, the country’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is. Instead, PNG opted for a four-man pace attack supplemented by Charles Amini’s spin.
“Even though there’s been a bit of rain around, the pitch looks really good. We’ve got all the bases covered so really happy with the XI we’ve got. Preparation has been really good, we’ve been here for a couple of weeks, enjoying the Caribbean lifestyle and playing a few warm-up matches,” said PNG captain Asad Vala.
Playing XIs of both teams
West Indies: Johnson Charles, Brandon King, Roston Chase, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell (c), Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie
PNG: Tony Ura, Assad Vala (c), Sese Bau, Lega Siaka, Hiri Hiri, Charles Amini, Kiplin Doriga (wk), Alei Nao, Chad Soper, Kabua Morea, John Kariko
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