West Indies find another way to win as they survive PNG test

OSCAR RESS: Sese Bau scored fifty but Papua New Guinea were restricted to 136 before West Indies chased it down with an over to spare thanks largely to an unbeaten 42 from Roston Chase

Oscar Ress | 02/06/2024 at 18:59

Providence: Papua New Guinea 136-8, West Indies 137-5 - West Indies win by 5 wickets

The West Indies survived a lack of pace to overcome a valiant Papua New Guinea by five wickets in their first 2024 World Cup game in Guyana.

Sese Bau scored fifty but Papua New Guinea were restricted to 136 before West Indies chased it down with an over to spare thanks largely to an unbeaten 42 from Roston Chase.

Papua New Guinea struggled after the early loss of opener Tony Ura (2) in the second over to Romario Shepherd, going on to lose two more powerplay wickets but the recovery was highlighted by 50 off 43 balls from Sese Bau and late hitting from Kiplin Doriga (27 off 18) which saw Papua New Guinea post 136 off their 20 overs.

All six of the West Indies bowlers enjoyed a solid outing, taking regular wickets to halt any momentum, with Chase the only wicketless bowler. Akeal Hosein stood out by conceding just nine runs in his three overs and took one wicket.

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Akeal Hoisen was the star of the West Indies bowling innings as he conceded just nine runs in his three overs (Darrian Traynor/ICC)

West Indies were rocked early when they lost Johnson Charles lbw to Alei Nao on the first ball of the second over and it could have been worse when Papua New Guinea failed to review an incorrect lbw decision against Nicholas Pooran, a ball before a rain shower forced the players off the field.

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Alei Nao took the wicket of Johnson Charles with his first ball in a T20 World Cup game (Darrian Traynor/ICC)

When the players returned from the 20-minute rain delay, Brandon King injected some much-needed timing to help his side to 52-1 at the end of the powerplay, while his partner Pooran took 17 runs off the sixth over to recover from a slow start.

West Indies were always comfortably ahead of the rate but PNG did well to take the pace off the ball which helped them remove Pooran for a run-a-ball 27 and King (34) to the bowling of John Kariko (1-17) and Assad Vala (2-28) respectively.

Captain Rovman Powell (15) and Sherfane Rutherford (2) both fell to impressive catches by PNG keeper Doriga as chances of a major shock increased.

Chase combined with Andre Russell (15 off 9) to see their side home with regular boundaries transferring the pressure back onto the visitors.

In truth, the West Indies were made to work harder than they would have expected but did well to absorb the pressure and get an opening victory.

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