T20 WC: Russell, Hosein star for West Indies as PNG manage to put 136/8 on board

Guyana [West Indies], June 2 (ANI): A clinical outing with the ball for West Indies kept Papua New Guinea batters at bay and held them on 136/8 in the second match of the T20 World Cup 2024 at the Providence Stadium on Sunday. It was a clinical outing for the West Indies bowlers after they decided to bowl after winning the toss. With three spinners at his disposal, Powell decided to hand the ball to left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein to bowl in the powerplay. In the first over of the match, Hosein enjoyed the amount of turn that was on offer and conceded just a single. Romario Shepherd made most of the pressure and removed Tony Ura (2) by forcing out an outside edge.

Hosein castled Lega Siaka on the first ball of the third over with a seam-up delivery to put West Indies in complete control of the proceedings. From that point, Sese Bau and PNG skipper Assad Vala tried to string up a partnership. They tried to brush off the pressure with Vala sending the ball into the stands over extra cover. A tossed-up delivery followed by the sweet sound of timing saw the ball clear the rope with ease.

In the final over of the powerplay, Vala (21) tried to make the most of the situation. He managed to pull out two boundaries in the over before losing his wicket on the final ball of the powerplay. Roston Chase caught a stunner and handed Alzarri Joseph his first wicket of the tournament.

Bau stayed on the crease and kept the scoreboard ticking by picking boundaries at every possible opportunity.

Wickets kept falling on the other end, but Bau didn't stop to find the fence on deliveries that fell in his hitting zone. His 44-run stand with Charles Amini was the driving force in PNG's total.

With a single on the first ball of the 16th over, Bau raised his bat for a fifty. His record-breaking time on the field came to an end after Joseph clipped the bails off the stumps with a slower off-cutter.

Chad Soper (10) and Kiplin Doriga (27*) played influential knocks towards the end which propelled PNG to 136/8.

Brief Score: Papua New Guinea 136/8 (Sese Bau 50, Kiplin Doriga 27*; Andre Russell 2-19, Alzarri Joseph 2-24) vs West Indies. (ANI)